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SUMMARYSerial serum cholesterol levels were measured in 50 patients undergoing biliary-tract surgery and in a control group of IZ patients. There was a transient early fall in serum cholesterol after cholecystectomy alone. The mean maximal fall was 30 per cent, observed on day 6. When the common bile-duct was drained the serum cholesterol fell by a similar amount (36 per cent) but the fall was sustained for longer, the greatest mean maximal fall being on Loss of cholesterol in the bile of patients undergoing common bile-duct drainage was measured at and after operation. If the gall-bladder was not contracted then the maximum loss of cholesterol was shown to occur at operation owing to the high concentration of cholesterol in the gall-bladder. The possible mechanism of the observed fall in the serum cholesterol is discussed. day 9.

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