Urgent cholecystectomy.

A retrospective review of cholecystectomy at the Naval Regional Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia revealed 92 patients (22%) who had urgent or early operation for acute cholecystitis. There were no infections or deaths in this group and the complication rate was similar to that of patients who had elective cholecystectomy. We advocate liberal use of intraoperative cholangiography in these patients. Interestingly, a high number of positive common duct explorations were found in those patients with a bilirubin level of over 4.0 mg/dl.