[Laparoscopic cholecystectomy--benefit or risk?].

A comparing observation between 600 patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy and 921 conventionally operated patients reveals that while achieving the same standard of results, the laparoscopic cholecystectomy does not lead to an increased rate of complications. With the operating time slightly prolonged, there is quick freedom from pain, short hospitalization and a short period of convalescence. Thus the laparoscopic cholecystectomy appears to meet the standard of conventional cholecystectomy despite higher demands regarding personnel and materials. It is not only characterized by being better accepted by the patient, but also seems to represent an adequate therapy for symptomatic cholelithiasis from the economic point of view.