A prospective study of the clinical significance of the treatment of gallstones with chenodeoxycholic acid.

Three hundred and forty-two consecutive patients admitted for cholecystectomy were taken into consideration for medical treatment with CDC. Twenty-two patients were eligible for such treatment. The remainder were excluded for the following reasons: 1, emergency operation in 20; 2, nonfunctioning gallbladder in 136; 3, large gallstones in 100; 4, radiopaque calculus in 30, and 5, hepatic disease in seven. Other reasons for surgical treatment were fertile women without adequate contraception, severe biliary tract symptoms, indication for exploratory laparotomy and insufficiency in handling the medication. Twelve patients were treated with CDC. One patient had complete dissolution of the gallstone. It is concluded that the introduction of medical treatment with CDC did not reduce the number of cholecystectomies at a surgical clinic.