Initial experience of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a district hospital.

Fifty-five consecutive unselected patients were submitted for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and the procedure completed laparoscopically in fifty cases. The outcome is presented with particular reference to the duration of surgery, postoperative pain and nausea, the length of hospital stay and the time taken to recover normal activities. This technique is shown to have major advantages over conventional gallbladder surgery for the majority of patients.