Quality of life after treatment of XXXX : results of a randomised study of lithotripsy and open cholecystectomy.

@entity1 @entity5990
OBJECTIVE: To compare quality of life after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and open cholecystectomy for symptomatic @entity5990 . DESIGN: Randomised study. SETTING: University hospital, The Netherlands. SUBJECTS: 49 @entity1 , 23 of whom were randomized to undergo ESWL and 26 to undergo open cholecystectomy. INTERVENTIONS: Health questionnaires were filled out before, and at 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Improvements of quality of life after one year. RESULTS: Both treatments improved quality of life. Open cholecystectomy improved quality of life significantly better than ESWL (median percentage gains in Nottingham Health Profile scores at 1 year 17.1 and 10.5, respectively, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Open cholecystectomy is superior to ESWL in improving quality of life, so cholecystectomy remains the treatment of choice for symptomatic @entity5990 . For @entity1 who are unfit or unwilling to undergo operation, however, ESWL is adequate because most @entity1 have some benefit from it in terms of quality of life.
