Clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with benign gallbladder disease: a large-scale retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: Benign gallbladder disease, including gallstones, gallbladder polyps, and gallbladder adenomyosis, is one of the most common disorders of the digestive system worldwide and poses a substantial clinical and economic burden. Despite its high prevalence, the clinical characteristics and risk profiles of hospitalized patients with benign gallbladder disease are not well defined, especially compared with population-based screening cohorts. This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with benign gallbladder disease using a large dataset and to compare these findings with those reported in physical examination populations. METHODS: A total of 36,298 patients admitted to the gallstone center of a tertiary hospital in Shanghai between 2019 and 2024 for benign gallbladder disease were included in the study. Basic patient information was collected from the electronic medical records system in accordance with the international classification of diseases. Descriptive statistics and Multinomial logistic regression methods were employed to analyze the clinical characteristics of patients and identify risk factors associated with gallbladder inflammatory conditions. RESULTS: The mean age of patients with gallstones was 50.21 ± 15.31 years, 43.90 ± 13.53 years for gallbladder polyps, and 49.36 ± 13.28 years for gallbladder adenomyosis. The male-to-female ratio in the gallstone population was approximately 1:1.38 (13,175:18,304), gallbladder polyps was 1.03:1(male: female = 3198:3113) and gallbladder adenomyosis was 1:1.28(male: female = 1057:1351); the risk of gallbladder stones in menstruating women was 0.625 times that in postmenopausal women (95% CI: 0.575-0.680, p < 0.0001), and gallbladder polyps were 1.555 times(95% CI: 1.439-1.680, p < 0.0001). Multinomial logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age, male, gallstones, common bile duct stones(CBDS) and diabetes mellitus(DM) were significantly associated with the inflammatory state of the gallbladder(all p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Gallstones is the primary cause of hospitalisation for benign gallbladder disease, and the risk is higher in postmenopausal women. Middle age, male, gallstones, CBDS and DM are identified as risk factors for gallbladder inflammation. Although gallbladder polyps and adenomyosis showed patterns similar to those in general populations, findings from hospitalized cohorts may not fully represent broader, unscreened populations due to a higher prevalence of severe or symptomatic cases.