[Gallstones: a choice of treatments]

This article presents a profile of the 20-year evolution in the treatment of gallbladder stones. The author herself works in a modern hepato-biliary and pancreatic surgical department of Hospital Saint-Luc in Montreal. The role of the gallbladder, its pathophysiology and the symptoms of gallbladder syndrome are explained. The main objective of the article is to inform the nurse that, along with traditional surgical treatment, other treatments, non-surgical as well as surgical, do exist. The general public is aware of new methods such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This surgical procedure is explained along with other choices of treatment.