Cholecystectomy without drainage: a dilemma?

A retrospective study was carried out to show the uselessness of routine drainage after simple cholecystectomy. Cholecystectomy was performed in 1,425 patients with cholelithiasis; 164 (13 percent) were drained because of adhesions, concomitant pancreatitis, inadvertent injury, gangrene, empyema and perforation of the gallbladder. None of the complications for which the use of drainage after simple cholecystectomy is commonly advised were observed in any of the 1,261 patients without drainage.