Abdominal ultrasound in patients with acute right upper quadrant pain.

Ultrasonography was performed as the first imaging procedure in 100 patients who presented with acute right upper quadrant pain suggestive of cholecystitis or cholelithiasis. In the final analysis 46 patients were found to have gallbladder disease (40 patients with cholelithiasis, 5 with acalculous cholecystitis, and 1 with a cholesterol polyp in the gallbladder). In 22 of 54 patients with a normal gallbladder, other abdominal disease was found. The error rate for ultrasound was 5%, and in 4 patients ultrasound was not the suitable procedure for the diagnosis. In 91 patients the ultrasonographic diagnosis was correct.