Conventional cholecystectomy in elderly patients.

One hundred and seventy two consecutive patients of 70 years or older undergoing cholecystectomy at laparotomy for gallbladder stone disease during a five-year period in Tampere University Hospital were studied to evaluate the present safety of "conventional" cholecystectomy in the elderly. One hundred and six (62%) underwent emergency or urgent cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis and 66 (33%) elective cholecystectomy. The mortality was zero per cent in elective operations as compared to 5% in emergency/urgent operations (P < 0.001). The complication rate was 8% in elective operations compared to 25% in emergency/urgent operations (P < 0.001). These results suggest that conventional cholecystectomy is a very safe operation in the elderly, when performed electively. The development of new methods to treat gallbladder stone disease, such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy, must be undertaken from this background.