This study reports the clinical and pharmacokinetic results following an injection of latamoxef (moxalactam disodium) in patients undergoing cholecystectomy for symptomatic cholelithiasis. Two groups were involved in the study. Group A consisted of 22 patients who received 1 g of intramuscular latamoxef at the time of premedication prior to surgery, and group B consisted of 12 patients each of whom received an intravenous dose of 0.5 g of latamoxef at the time of anaesthetic induction. Latamoxef levels were then measured in peripheral blood, gall bladder bile, common bile duct (CBD) bile and gall bladder wall. Despite a significant difference in the sampling times, inhibitory levels were obtained in the majority of samples in both groups, singularly high levels being assayed in CBD bile. We conclude that an intravenous dosage of latamoxef (0.5 g) given with anaesthetic induction is as effective as 1 g intramuscular dosage given with the pre-medication.