The problem of persistence of typical preoperative symptoms after cholecystectomy for supposed cholecystic disease is well known and extremely perplexing. Probably because their cause is not known, a voluminous literature containing many conflicting theories on the subject has appeared. The symptom complex has been given many names, best known of which are biliary dyskinesia,1 biliary dyssynergia and postcholecystectomy syndrome.
The purpose of this study was to survey an obscure aspect of the problem, namely, the role played by a remnant of the cystic duct and the effect of its removal. The material was obtained from a review of 44 cases in which operation was performed at the Mayo Clinic in the years 1910 to 1940 inclusive because of persistence of symptoms after cholecystectomy. These are, of course, only a small proportion of the cases in which exploratory operation was performed for such symptoms in that period, but in each