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Despite growing experience with laparoscopic cholecystectomy in up to now 1100 operations lesions of the bile ducts sometimes occur. We therefore decided to perform intraoperative cholangiography obligatorily and increased our rate of intraoperative X-ray control from 30% in the first 500 operations to 98.2% in the last 500 operations. The mean operation time in the radiography group was 44.8 min. After introduction of intraoperative cholangiography no bile duct lesions were encountered, but in 4.6% of all patients with this examination previously unknown choledocholithiasis was diagnosed.

We report about a retrospective study of 861 conventional and 812 laparoscopic cholecystectomies (including one coelioscopic choledocholithotomy). In the conventionally operated group reoperation was required in 2.7% (1.4% relaparotomy, 1.3% secondary suture), mortality was 0.5%. After laparoscopic treatment the reoperation rate was 2% (10 relaparoscopies, 5 laparotomies, 2 secondary sutures), no mortality. Growing experience and better definition of contraindications for endoscopic cholecystectomy might improve our results in the future.