[The treatment of acute cholecystitis (author's transl)]

Authors report own experience on 384 patients operated for acute cholecystitis, from 1970 to 1979, among over 2.100 operations for cholelithiasis performed in that period. Operations have been divided in 3 groups: 1) deferred after 2 months (196 cases); 2) deferred, but during hospitalization, between 8th and 25th day from the onset of acute symptomatology (133 cases); 3) early, within 72 degrees hour from beginning of the disease (55 cases). Many clinical features have been considered and among these bacteriological investigations. Diagnostic acids, especially echotomography in last years, surgical procedures, pathological findings and different rates of mortality and morbidity, for each group of patients, have been studied. The conclusion is that acute cholecystitis have to be operated early, not after degrees day from onset of symptoms, especially if there is no tendency to remission of symptomatology.