A Clinical Review of 1000 Cases of Surgical Biliary Tract Diseases

ABSTRACT

There have been some differences between the manifestations of biliary tract diseases in the Korean population and those in the populations of western countries, and these differences have been varying recently. A clinical analysis of 1000 patients who had been treated surgically for biliary diseases at the Department of General Surgery, St. Benedict Hospital, during the period of 10 years from January 1986 to December 1995 was done, and the results were compared with those of previous reports. The following subjects emerged as points of variance 1) The incidence of the each biliary tract disease, 2) In calculous biliary disease, the location of the stone and the chemical composition of the stone, 3) Parasitic biliary disease, 4) The sex ratio and the age distribution, 5) The duration of illness, 6) Common symptoms and signs and their frequency, 7) Positive laboratory findings and the availability of radiologic diagnoses, 8) Common organisms in the bacterial culture, 9) The management of biliary diseases, and 10) Postoperative complications and the mortality rate. The clinical manifestations of biliary diseases have changed gradually and have been influenced by multiple factors improvements inf living, education, and the environment, advances in diagnostic and therapeutic methods, etc.. Although these changes are due to the influences of westernization, they should also exhibit Korean-unique charecteristics. Also, we l expect further improvements in the future, and keep in mind those different points, there should be further suitable management, depending on changing features.