[Analysis of gallstones by infrared spectrophotometry. Advantages and limits of the method (author's transl)]

Numerous clinicians criticise the insufficiency and imprecision, and the incoherency of the analyses of biological calculations by the usual clinical methods and thus frequently avoid prescribing such an examination. The authors propose the application of a physical method, infrared spectrophotometry for the qualitative and semi-quantitative determination of the composition of stones of all origins. They recall the often heterogeneous structure of the stones and emphasise the importance which they attribute of differential analysis by separate zones during careful dissection, the results of which may orient the therapeutic attitude of the clinician. The differentiation of a few crystalline structures and the study of complex mixtures are dealt with in the form of characteristic infrared spectra. The advantages and limits of the method compared with other technics of analysis are discussed.