DRAINAGE AFTER CHOLECYSTECTOMY

To the Editor: —A very recent personal experience with a cholecystectomy and choledochotomy followed by T tube drainage of the common duct leads me to make some comments on the experience for the benefit of those practicing this procedure. The most annoying symptoms following the operation, aside from the pain produced by coughing, sneezing and the like, were those referred to the stomach. These symptoms were similar to those experienced at intervals for years prior to the operation, and consisted of an almost continuous nausea accompanied by a terrific burning in the epigastrium. After a time vomiting would occur followed by a period of relief of the burning and nausea; but the act itself, which was resisted as long as possible, was accompanied by excruciating pain in the wound, and the muscular effort involved was sufficient to break one of the silkworm-gut stitches. It was found that a quarter grain