BACKGROUND: Liver cirrhosis and cholelithiasis are both familiar diseases in China.  However, the rates of operative complications and death are still high in patients with these diseases. This study was designed to determine the operative indications as well as suitable procedures in the treatment of patients with cholelithiasis and liver cirrhosis.
METHODS: We studied retrospectively 60 patients with cholelithiasis and liver cirrhosis who had undergone operation from January 2000 to July 2006. We analyzed the loss of blood during operation, postoperative complications and death rate to determine the proper treatment.
RESULTS: Fifty patients were cured and 10 (16.7%) died postoperatively, i.e., six patients died from hepatic-renal failure and multisystem organ dysfunction and 4 from massive bleeding in the gallbladder bed. The 10 patients were clearly correlated with the Child-Pugh classification: Child A (8%), Child B (20%) and Child C (30%). Postoperative bleeding occurred in 10 patients (16.7%), intraabdominal in 6 and gastrointestinal in 4. Seven of the 10 patients with bleeding died postoperatively.
CONCLUSIONS: The proper perioperative management of patients with cholelithiasis and liver cirrhosis can decrease the mortality. Cholelithiasis should be managed first by emergency operation. It is safe for the patients of Child A to undergo laparoscopy.  It is very safe for patients with cirrhosis and cholelithiasis to undergo devascularization and shunt operation followed by biliary tract surgery.