Bacteriology of the gallbladder bile in normal subjects

A bacteriologic analysis of the gallbladder bile in eighty patients who underwent operation was performed in a prospective study. In all twenty patients with a normal gallbladder as assessed by oral cholecystography and intraoperative palpation, cultured were negative. Among patients with chronic cholecystitis only 30 per cent had positive bile cultures and this rose to 47 per cent among patients with acute cholecystitis.