Guidelines to laparoscopic management of acute cholecystitis.

Objective: The present work aims at identifying preoperative variables that may help the surgeon choosing the most appropriate operative approach in various clinical presentation of acute cholecystitis.

Summary Background Data: Conversion rates up to 60% have been reported for laparoscopic management of acute cholecystitis. Previous works indicate that the severity of the gallbladder inflammatory process represents the main cause of laparoscopic conversion.