"INNOCENT" GALL-STONES A MYTH

Abstract

Ten years ago we heard a great deal about "innocent gall-stones," which meant that gall-stones existed without symptoms and that their presence was not suspected until post-mortem examination brought them to light. We cannot now escape the conviction that the gall-stones did cause symptoms and that we as diagnosticians, and not the gall-stones, were "innocent." In the early history of our knowledge concerning gallstone disease, the diagnosis was not often made until secondary complications and infections had brought about marked local signs and symptoms, or until Nature hung out the yellow flag of jaundice. The mysteries of the disease have, however, been gradually dispelled by operative interference, which has given us pathologic information of the early stages. It has been stated by good authorities, Naunyn,¹and others, that gall-stones are present in 10 per cent, of the human race, and this conclusion has apparently been substantiated by the post-mortem