The management of calculous disease of the biliary tract has undergone significant changes during the past decade. Yet, the only radical method of treatment remains cholecystectomy. The surgical option has been improved by the development of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. From February 1990 to February 1991, we performed 368 laparoscopic cholecystectomies, with no mortality and a morbidity rate of 3.8%. There were 283 women and 85 men, with a mean age of 56.2 years (range 18 to 92 years). Two patients were asymptomatic but presented with a growing gallbladder polyp. All the other patients were symptomatic: biliary colic (63.8%), dyspepsia (18.6%), or acute cholecystitis (17.6%); 36 patients had an history of stone migration to the main biliary tract. Mean operating time was 58.3 minutes (22 to 180 minutes) and mean postoperative stay was 3.4 days. There were four systemic complications and 10 local technically related complications: two have been controlled by a laparoscopic approach (one hemorrhage and one biliary leak), one by laparotomy (bile duct injury). The other 7 local complications resolved spontaneously (4 biliary fistulas) or by percutaneous punction (3 subphrenic abscesses). Twenty-six patients (7%) required conversion to open cholecystectomy because of technical difficulties with the dissection or main biliary tract stones. We conclude that laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a safe and effective procedure.