Table 3.

Symptomatic outcome following cholecystectomy in prospective studies.

	Preoperative Proportion (%)	Decline	Incline	Debuting
Pain attacks/biliary colic/biliary pain	42–100%	↓↓↓	–	(0%)
Unspecified/atypical pain	9–100%	↓↓	↑	0–7%
Dyspepsia	11–88%	↓↓	(↑↑↑)	0–6%
Heartburn	25–66%	↓↓	–	1–8%
Regurgitation/reflux	11–72%	↓↓	(↑)	2–14%
Nausea	13–90%	↓↓↓	(↑↑↑)	0–2%
Vomiting	7–54%	↓↓↓	(↑↑↑)	0–1%
Fat or food intolerance	36–80%	↓↓↓	–	2–13%
Indigestion/postprandial heaviness	14–78%	↓↓	–	–
Flatulence	15–88%	↓	–	0–10%
Diarrhea	2–22%	(→)	↑↑↑	14–17%
Bloating/distension	37–82%	↓↓	–	–
Constipation	7–65%	→	–	–

Arrows indicate % change in proportion of patients reporting symptoms before versus after cholecystectomy as reported in most studies. ↓↓↓/↑↑↑ decline/incline of 60% or more; ↓↓/↑↑ decline/incline of 30–60% or more; ↓/↑ decline/incline of 30–60%; → % change less than 30%; – indicates no available studies or incomparable estimates between studies; () indicates estimates from single studies.