Bile is made by the body to aid in the digestion of fats. It is stored in the gallbladder where it can crystallize to form gallstones. Although gallstones often cause no symptoms, they can cause acute cholecystitis with severe pain, inflammation, infection, and scarring of the gallbladder wall, particularly when they block the duct that leads from the gallbladder to the small intestine. In the United States, 10% to 20% of adults have gallstones and approximately one third of them develop acute cholecystitis. Cholecystectomy, surgical removal of the gallbladder, is the primary treatment for this disorder and approximately 500,000 of these procedures are performed annually in the United States. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the reference standard for removal of the gallbladder.