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This paper assesses the risk of dying within 30 days of admission among 13,854 women who had a cholecystectomy performed as the principal operation from 1977 to 1981. The overall crude mortality rate was 1.2%. Women who had a simple elective cholecystectomy performed had a mortality rate similar to women who had a simple hysterectomy. The mortality was significantly higher than in the general female population (p less than 0.05). Increased age, acute admission, admissions to hospital within 3 months prior to the index admission, the number of discharge diagnoses, and the geographical region were significantly associated with increased mortality. Exploration of the common bile duct was associated with higher mortality in the bivariate analysis, but the association disappeared when the number of discharge diagnoses was taken into account. Type of hospital and the population based cholecystectomy rate of the patient's residential area was not associated with mortality. As regards early mortality, it is concluded that simple elective cholecystectomy is a safe procedure before the age of 50 to 60 years. Acute admissions and more than one diagnosis at discharge were associated with an increased mortality, whereas exploration of the common bile duct may not be as important an independent factor as previously assumed.