Cholecystectomy after tube cholecystostomy.

Seventy-nine patients with cholecystostomy tubes underwent cholecystectomies. Twenty-nine had cholecystectomies and common bile duct exploration and 50 had cholecystectomies only. The 50 who had cholecystectomies alone were compared with 50 patients who had elective cholecystectomies. The comparison defined any differences in morbidity and mortality between the two groups. Thirty-five (70 percent) of the 50 patients with cholecystostomy cholecystectomies and 34 (68 percent) of the 50 patients having elective cholecystectomies had no operative or postoperative morbidity. The cholecystostomy cholecystectomies did require more operative time, and more patients required blood transfusion. Both these differences were identified as being secondary to a more difficult operative dissection through adhesions. No differences in length of hospitalization, length of postoperative stay, or mortality were present. A cholecystostomy cholecystectomy can be performed with morbidity and mortality rates that are no different than those of an elective cholecystectomy.