Further progress in surgery of the biliary tract must depend on a reduction in mortality and morbidity, on a reasonable certainty of obtaining relief with a preservation of the maximum function and on a simplified technic, and must lead to earlier operation.
The first operation on the gallbladder has been credited to Fabricius,1 who removed gallstones in 1618. Hulke2 referred to a case reported about 1706 in which a stone was withdrawn from the gallbladder by a forceps. Petit3 in 1743 reported a case in which stones were removed from a gallbladder which was incised when it was mistaken for an abscess, and the patient recovered. Thudichum4 in 1859 proposed the removal of stones by drainage in two stages.
The first operation on the gallbladder in one stage was performed in 1867 by Bobbs5 when he removed many gallstones and closed the incision by primary