[Surgery of biliary lithiasis. II. Choice of operation and results]

A pre-and intraoperative diagnostic protocol offering morphological and functional evaluation of the bile ducts, Oddi's sphincter, duodenum, and pancreas was employed to classify 633 patients with biliary lithiasis into 6 groups and hence the therapeutic application of 6 surgical techniques, namely: 1) cholecystectomy alone; 2) choledocholithotomy plus closure of the choledoch; 3) choledocholithotomy plus Kehr drainage; 4) papillosphincterotomy alone; 5) papillosphincterotomy plus anterior seclective duodenal vagotomy; 6) hepaticojejunostomy, so as to ensure a rational choice of the best operation fro each situation. Comparison with the literature and prior personal results substantiated the soundness of this approach, as shown by a marked reduction of complications, mortality and residual disease on both short and medium-term follow-up.