Gallstone Disease

The nonsurgical management of gallstone disease has drawn widespread clinical interest during the last decade as ultrasound surveys have indicated that cholelithiasis is predominantly an asymptomatic condition and much more prevalent than previously thought. This book presents an overwiew of the pathologic and pathobiochemical principles of gallstone formation and the consequences for clinical therapeutic regimens. New therapeutic applications of HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitors and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are also critically reviewed. Finally, for the interested reader an evaluation of prophylactic treatment against stone recurrence after successful conservative treatment and an appraisal of alternative management strategies supplement the information on the conservative treatment of gallstones.