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Excerpt

Most authorities agree that antibiotics should be given to patients with complicated gallstone disease. However with the advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), the routine practice of antibiotic prophylaxis has been reevaluated. The concessus suggests that prophylactic antibiotics are not necessary for elective LC in low-risk patients. Our study supports this view, because the risk of infection after LC is so low and of such minor clinical importance. Low-risk patients were defined in brief as all the patients without past or present objective evidence of biliary obstruction or recent severe acute infection. We understand that you prefer reading about studies with large groups patients or about large double-blind controlled trials. As you mentioned in your letter, the lack in our study is the small number of the patients. This was a unicentric, case–control study conducted by one surgical team. Because of this, the number of patients in both groups is not satisfactory. However we have not yet concluded this study. …