Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has stimulated an unprecedented interest in the radiology of the gallbladder. The search for nonoperative methods of treating gallstones continues, but there has been a relative diminution of interest in interventional radiologic techniques for the treatment of gallstone disease. However, this is more than counterbalanced by a plethora of articles on diagnostic studies of the gallbladder, many of them related directly to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for gallstones is a technique that still has a place in the era of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and radiologic methods have been used to target it at those patients for whom it is most effective. Percutaneous interventional techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The barriers between minimally invasive surgery and interventional radiology are becoming blurred, with the use of small-caliber endoscopes through radiologically created access routes. In the treatment of malignant disease, the use of self-expandable stents is now becoming routine and there are several papers on methods of dealing with stent occlusion.
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