ObjectiveTo investigate and compare the advantages and disadvantages of laparoscopic cholecystolithotomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy for patients with gallbladder stone. MethodsThe eligible patients with gallbladder stones hospitalized in our department between January 2007 and December 2011 were included, and all of them received either laparoscopic cholecystolithotomy (observation group) or laparoscopic cholecystectomy (control group) minimally-invasive surgery. The operation time, bleeding volume, enterokinesia recovery time, hospital stay, post-operative complication and follow-up results were compared between the two groups. ResultsA total of 148 patients were included, with 68 patients in the observation group and 80 patients in the control group. In this cohort, the success rate of surgery for the observation group and the control group was 100.0% (68/68) and 98.8% (79/80), respectively; and the success rate of complete stone removal was 100% for both two groups. B-ultrasound examination after 2 weeks of treatment showed that gallbladder wall was normal and gallbladder contraction rate was more than 30% for all patients with laparoscopic cholecystolithotomy. The operation time was (49.6±5.2) minutes for the observation group and (50.5±6.2) minutes for the control group, and bleeding volume was (9.5±1.4) mL for the observation group and (50.2±8.1) mL for the control group; the difference in bleeding volume was significant between the two groups (P<0.05). The difference in enterokinesia recovery time[(33.9±2.2) and (34.4±2.6) minutes] or hospital stay[(3.4±1.0) and (3.6±1.2) days] between the observation group and the control group was not significant (both P >0.05). The post-operative complications of bleeding, bile leakage and wound infection were not observed in both two groups, and all patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months with no stone recurrence; and only 2.7% of patients (1/37) had stone recurrence after 3-year follow-up. ConclusionBoth laparoscopic cholecystolithotomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedures are safe and efficient. However, laparoscopic cholecystolithotomy not only reserves gallbladder but also has superiority of less bleeding volume.