Critical sequelae in biliary tract disease.

The high incidence of calculous biliary tract disease accounts for surgical operation upon the biliary tract disease accounts for surgical operation upon the biliary tract being the most frequently performed within the abdomen. Untreated surgically critical sequelae tend to occur with advancing age and duration of the disease. The more common of these are: acute cholecystitis, choledocholithiasis, acute obstructive suppurative cholangitis, biliary enteric fistulas, liver abscess, related pancreatitis, and biliary cirrhosis. The greater the pathological changes in the biliary tract and the more debilitated the individual, the greater is the risk of surgery. However, the risk is even greater without operation.