title: The surgical treatment of a rare complication: gallstone ileus.
abstract: The authors describe 3 cases of gallstone ileus observed in two different hospitals and evaluate the current rarity of this complication of the biliary lithiasis and/or of cholangiocarcinomas. There were two cases of stones at the ileal level and one case in the left colon. In one case a single surgical intervention was carried out while in the other a two-step strategy was adopted. Notwithstanding the fact that the correct strategy to adopt is still controversial in literature, the authors discuss the single and double step strategies and propose that the second intervention of the 2-step strategy should not be performed in high risk surgical patients.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche, Trapianti d'Organo e Tecnologie Avanzate, U.O. Chirurgia Generale e Week Surgery, Policlinico Universitario di Catania, Italy. mar_donati@libero.it
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donati
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cardì
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brancato
authors.forename: Piergiorgio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Calò
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donati
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D045823:Ileus / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery*