[Treatment of acute cholecystitis in patients over 80 years of age].

The severity of morphological changes in the gallbladder and complicated course of the disease are the principal factors causing an unfavorable effect on the results of treatment of acute cholecystitis in patients over 80 years of age. Early surgical intervention is the basis of the therapeutical tactics. The choice of the operation is determined by the organism's functional condition which is evaluated according to its capacity for work. In patients with a compensated functional condition the volume of the surgical intervention does not differ from that generally accepted. In patients with a decompensated condition preference should be given to conservative surgery (percutaneous transhepatic puncture, decompression and cleansing of the gallbladder or microcholecystecstomy under echographic control) or treatment applied in stages, alternating various types of surgical manipulations. Postoperative mortality was 14% per 142 operated-on patients.