Introduction:

With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, to reorganize health services has been necessary, as well as to modify, to a certain extent, the surgical indication for acute cholecystitis.

Objective:

To characterize cholecystostomy as a safe and effective alternative for the resolution of acute lithiasic cholecystitis in patients with no surgical indication, whether or not they have COVID-19.

Methods:

A narrative-descriptive review was carried out from 2019 to 2021 of primary and secondary sources addressing this topic; this time period marked the development of the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Google Chrome was used, together with the electronic databases MEDLINE/PubMed and INDEXMEDICUS, as well as sources of information in evidence-based journals, such as ACP Journal Best Evidence and Cochrane.

Development:

The impact of the health crisis over surgical services is translated into the cancellation of elective cholecystectomies in 97.6 % of the centers. This decision is not innocuous, since an annual risk of developing complications has been estimated at 1-3 % for symptomatic cholelithiasis.

Conclusions:

Cholecystostomy is the most successful method to be used for the resolution of acute lithiasic cholecystitis in patients with no surgical indication or poor response to medical treatment, without complete certainty as to whether or not the patient has COVID-19.

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