Current status of medical treatment of gallstones.

Medical dissolution of gallstones is feasible and has worked in clinical practice. Cholelithiasis is both common and a cause of significant morbidity nationally. Thus, to readdress the question posed in the introduction, should there be a more aggressive detection of populations at risk to consider prophylactic or early treatment of gallstones, one has to consider the following. Is it cost effective to treat people with asymptomatic stones when one half of gallstones detected at autopsy have not caused trouble in life? Will the reduction of one health hazard create other hazards, such as colonic cancer? Is it improving the quality of the patient's life after successful treatment to have the person return every year for ultrasound or radiologic check-ups for recurrence of gallstones? We feel that despite the low morbidity and mortality of elective surgery, medical dissolution of gallstones is a viable alternative, but, as with most medical decisions, the pros and cons of any therapy for cholelithiasis will ultimately be a decision based on the physician, the patient, and the situation. On the basis of what has been discussed in this review, the approach to treatment should involve a rational understanding of all alternatives.