The influence of age on early surgical treatment of acute cholecystitis.

This study was undertaken to assess the influence of age on the early surgical treatment of acute cholecystitis. One hundred consecutive patients who had early operations for acute cholecystitis were divided into two groups according to age. Group 1 consisted of 41 patients who were younger than 60 years of age, and group 2 was made up of 59 patients who were more than 60 years of age. Shock, leukocytosis, hyperglycemia and uremia were more common in those patients in group 2 (p less than 0.05). The over-all diagnostic effectiveness was 94 per cent. The mortality rate was 4.1 per cent (n = 4). There were no significant differences in morbidity and mortality between both groups. In conclusion, advanced age is not a contraindication for early surgical treatment of acute cholecystitis.