Aberrant Gallstones - Extraordinary Complications of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

About 0.2% of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystetomy will suffer from complications caused by lost gallstones. Diagnostic and therapeutic measures are correlated to the symptoms. At different locations, abscesses can arise, which can be treated by direct access through the abdominal wall, laparotomy or laparoscopy. Two cases are presented with the especially grave sequels of subphrenic abscess, infiltration of the thoracic wall, and pleural empyema, which respectively needed several successive operations after ten years. In laparoscopic cholecystectomy, all detected stones should be removed. In the case of a failure, conversion to laparotomy is not essential. The loss of stones has to be formally documented, the patient and family doctor are to be informed.