At the children's hospital in Houston, Texas, 36 cholecystectomies were performed in the 20 years up to 1980. Between 1980 and 1996 there were 128 cholecystectomies of which 19 were laparoscopic (Darlene M Miltenburg and colleagues.Pediatrics2000;195:1250–3). Much of the increase may have been a consequence of ultrasound diagnosis but there appears to have been an increase particularly …