Notwithstanding the enormous literature on the subject of gall-bladder surgery which has accumulated during recent years, there have, as yet, been only a few papers published which deal in a comprehensive manner with the final results obtained by operation.
All who have had any experience with gall-bladder surgery know that, on the whole, the end-results have been very satisfactory, but that they can be improved in the future admits of no doubt. Such improvement must come largely through careful study of the successes and failures of the past, and the investigation on which this paper is based was undertaken with the idea, that the knowledge so gained might enable us in the future to eliminate a certain proportion of the unsatisfactory late results.
This study has consisted of a review of the literature on the subject, together with a critical analysis of the end-results obtained in 350 operative cases.
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