What Are the Alternative Medical and Surgical Treatments of Gallstone Disease?
In the past 20 years, a variety of treatment options for gallstone disease have been developed. Dissolution of gallstones by both mechanical and biochemical means is available. These alternative methods of treating gallstones must be compared to the standard surgical modalities. Open cholecystectomy has become one of our safer surgical procedures as improved methods of surgical technique, better anesthesia, and management of comorbid conditions have evolved. The current issue in the modern treatment of gallstone disease has focused on the role of the new surgical procedure, laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
