Surgical treatment for cholelithiasis.

In a retrospective study, the results of 1,631 consecutive operations for cholelithiasis were analyzed. With an overall mortality rate of 0.18 percent and a reoperation rate of 1.3 percent, conventional cholecystectomy proved to be a safe method. Mortality proved to be age dependent, with a zero mortality rate for patients less than 60 years of age. Choledochotomy had a 13-fold greater mortality rate than simple cholecystectomy (0.92 versus 0.07 percent). For acute cholecystitis, we observed an unusual zero mortality rate, whereas the mortality rate in chronic cholecystitis was 0.2 percent. All three patients who died had an accompanying cirrhosis of the liver. Morbidity, defined as reoperation during the same period of hospitalization, was mainly the result of retained stones after choledochotomy; endoscopic papillotomy was the treatment of choice. Cholecystectomy remains the "gold standard" in the treatment of cholelithiasis.