[Biliary ileus: review of the literature and presentation of 7 cases].

The authors report 7 cases of gallstone ileus out of 452 intestinal obstructions corresponding to an incidence of 0.04%. The late references on the subject show that gallstone ileus is an unusual condition which gives rise to surgical approach problems and operating mortality since it is a typical seniors' disease. Some Authors support the "one stage" repair for cholecystoduodenal fistula and gallstone ileus, whereas others suggest firstly to resolve the gallstone ileus with the enterolithotomy and then to perform the operation for gallstone disease. The authors treated six cases with the enterolithotomy and one case with the "one stage" procedure, both the treatments were successful as all the patients survived even if affected by easily controlled complications.