Stones spilled during cholecystectomy: a long-term liability for the patient.

Within the last 2 years, an increasing number of case reports concerning stone spillage during laparoscopic cholecystectomy and its long-term consequences have been published. Recently three patients were treated for abscesses caused by spilled stones at our institution. One of them had the longest interval between cholecystectomy and abscess formation on record. Her abscess developed 20 years after open cholecystectomy. The second patient had been admitted with one of the few cases of cholelithopthysis reported after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. All three cases and their long history of recurrences clearly underline the necessity for open debridement and drainage with stone removal for definitive treatment of these patients.