The pre and postoperative symptoms and outcome after surgery in patients with symptomatic gall stone disease were evaluated by a detailed self administered postal questionnaire. The survey was conducted in two groups: 80 patients treated by laparoscopic cholecystectomy and an age matched cohort of patients who had conventional open cholecystectomy. The overall response rate on which the data we...

Background: The prevalence of cholelithiasis is high and approximately every third woman and every fifth man are affected. Certain conditions preclude laparoscopic cholecystectomy leading surgeons to perform conventional open cholecystectomy. In this study we have determined that gallbladder (GB) wall thickening and pericholecystic fluid, on sonography are best predictors of conversion from lap...

HYPOTHESIS Tube cholecystostomy followed by interval laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a sale and efficacious treatment option in critically ill patients with acute cholecystitis. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study within a 4 1/2%-year period. SETTING University hospital. PATIENTS Of 324 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy, 65 (20%) had acute cholecystitis; 15 of these 65 pat...

BACKGROUND With the advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy patient outcomes and choice of procedure (laparoscopic vs open) are of vital interest. The purpose of this study was to examine the mortality and complication rates for patients undergoing laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy in New York State and to test for differences among hospital peer groups and regions of the state in the tenden...

CONTEXT Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become the most widely used treatment for gallbladder disease. In HMO, Medicare, and fee-for-service settings, cholecystectomy rates increased 28% to 59% after introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. OBJECTIVE To investigate the impact of the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy on cholecystectomy rates and the operative mortality rate in...