It has been said that disease of the biliary tract is the most common condition requiring surgical treatment in the elderly patient and some aspects of biliary tract disease in the aged, are different from the younger age group.
We collected and reviewed 119 patients older than 60 years of age with non-malignant biliary tract disease at the General Surgery Department of S.N.U.H from Jan. 1965 to Jun. 1974 and compared with 538 cases of all age group with non-malignant biliary tract disease from Jan. 1965 to Jun. 1972.
Following results were obtained;
1. The sex distribution revealed a ratio of I male to 2.7 females. (All age group; 1 : 1.4): 2. The prominent symptoms & signs, duration of illness, number of colic attacks and laboratory findings were -not significantly different from the results of all age group.
3. Forty-eight patients, 40%, had significant preoperative associated diseases which included
22 with hypertension, 15 with cardiorespiratory disease, 11 with diabetes mellitus, 6 with digestive tract disease and 9 with others.
4. Six, 25% of the 24 patients had radiopaque stones or highly suggestive findings of stone on scout roentgenongrams of the abdomen. (All age group; 18.7%)
5. Out of 116 operated patients, twenty-three cases, 20%, were acalculous biliary tract disease (All age group 25%) and ninety-six, 83%, underwent CBD exploration at the time of operation (All age group; 75%), stones being found in the CBD in 48.4% of the calculous disease (All age group; 44%).
6. In eighty-seven, 75%, early or emergency operations were performed.
7. Fifty-five, 51%, of the 108 patients were found to have either acute cholecystitis or chronic cholecystitis with acute exacervation, as reported by the pathologist. (All age group; 40%).
8. Thirty-three postoperative complications arose in 25, patients, 22%, the most common being bile leakage or billary fistula in 7 patients, pulmonary complication in 6 patients and wound infection in 5 patients (All age group 18. 1%).
9. Two of the 116 patients died following surgery, a mortality rate of 1.7% (All age group; 1.6%).
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