Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: historic perspective and personal experience.

Operative laparoscopy has been an important diagnostic and therapeutic method in gynecological surgery for more than 15 years. Laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery has only recently become accepted among general surgeons. Laparoscopic appendectomy was the first such procedure performed, in 1983, followed by cholecystectomy in 1987. Laparoscopic biliary tract surgery has been shown to offer the patient a number of advantages in patient care, such as reducing the length of hospitalization and recovery, minimizing postoperative pain and discomfort, and nearly eliminating the disfigurement associated with a major abdominal operation. Although initially offered only to those patients with uncomplicated biliary tract disease, this procedure is now safely performed in individuals with acute cholecystitis and choledocholithiasis. We describe the development of laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery in Europe as well as our method of performing endoscopic cholecystectomy. The current results of 690 laparoscopic cholecystectomies performed at our institution are included.