Postcholecystectomy diarrhea.

Diarrhea developed in three patients following cholecystectomy. Fecal bile-acid excretion was elevated in the two patients for whom it was measured. All three patients' diarrhea resolved with cholestyramine resin therapy. This experience suggests that gallbladder removal may lead to a bile-acid-mediated diarrhea in some patients, and that this condition appears to respond to cholestyramine therapy.