Langenbuch's cholecystectomy, once a remarkably controversial operation

Carl Langenbuch (1846-1901) has been appropriately designated the 'creator' of surgery of the gallbladder. In the surgical treatment of gallstone disease, Langenbuch advocated cholecystectomy in favour of cholecystostomy since he realised that the gallbladder should be removed not because it contained stones but because it originated the stones. In 1882, he successfully performed the first cholecystectomy in a 43-year-old patient. The new operation gave rise to a vehement, international discussion questioning the dispensability of the gallbladder in view of its alleged role in bile physiology. The famous abdominal surgeon Lawson Tait appeared to be a strong opponent of cholecystectomy, maintaining cholecystostomy as the procedure of choice. In the medical journals, he rejected cholecystectomy in unequivocal terms. The controversy about cholecystectomy persisted for several decades, delaying its wide acceptance.