Ideal cholecystectomy: in an early stage at an early age.

Two consecutive series of patients operated for gallstone disease were compared. One series emanated from a Swedish hospital in which an active surgical policy had been practised for many years while the other stemmed from a Swedish hospital in which the attitude towards surgery had been conservative. In this latter hospital there were more cases with biliary duct stones, especially hepatic duct stones. There were also more cases with jaundice, more cases with acute cholecystitis with high fever, more cases with protracted postoperative fever and with infection of the wound and more cases with a lengthy stay at the hospital. Responsible for all these differences were the older age groups. The conclusion is that the ideal treatment for gallstone disease is early operation, i.e. operation in an early stage and at an early age.