Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy : State of the Art. Eindhoven, November 1990. Special Topic Issue: Digestive Surgery 1991, Vol. 8, No. 2

The technique of performing cholecystectomy has improved to a degree that it has become the "golden standard treatment" for cholecystolithiasis.

Long-standing results as well as a reduction of the morbidity and mortality rate have proven this operation to be safe.

However, if there are complications, the majority are evidently related to the laparotomy and not to the actual removal of the diseased gallbladder.

This volume examines the current state in laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which is a new type of minimal access surgery.

Different experts provide technical details on this procedure.

As laparoscopic cholecystectomy combines the benefits of well-established treatment and offers the advantage of being less invasive, it could become a viable supplement to, or even a substitute for, conventional surgical techniques.