title: Treatment of cholecystitis: cholecystostomy or cholecystectomy?
abstract: Nine hundred ninety-two consecutive patients with cholelithiasis and cholecystitis are reported on. In Finland, these diseases seem to affect women more often than men as only 18% in the present series were men. The frequency of these diseases increases with advancing age and reaches its peak in patients sixty to sixty-five years of age. Therapy always consisted of cholecystectomy. The incidence of minor technical complications varied from 1.1% in group I to 4.5% in group III (6.1% in group IIB). Postoperative nonfatal complications varied from 2.0% in group I to 5.2% in group III (8.1% in group IIB). The age-adjusted duration of postoperative hospitalization was about eight days (in group IIB, nine days. In groups I and II one patient died whereas in group III two died. The mortality varied from 0.2% in group I to 0.6% in group III (1.2% in group IIB). The overall mortality for this series was 0.5%. On the basis of this analysis and the good results, I have concluded that cholecystectomy is the preferred therapy for cholecystitis at all stages when all coexisting diseases and water and elctrolyte imbalances have been treated.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000401:mortality; D002764:Cholecystitis / Q000601:surgery*; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications