Gallstones are concretions formed within the biliary tree (including the gallbladder) and are one of the most common clinical disorders of the digestive system. Clinical manifestations mainly include episodic abdominal pain, acute inflammation, and the following complications if the stone enters the common bile duct: jaundice, cholangitis and pancreatitis; however, most patients can be asymptomatic. Depending on the location of the stones, they are classified as gallbladder stones, intrahepatic bile duct stones, and common bile duct stones. From my national survey results in the early 1980s, the incidence of gallbladder stones was about 52.8%, intrahepatic bile duct stones was 36.2%, and common bile duct stones was 11%. Depending on the chemical composition of the stones, they usually include cholesterol stones, bile pigment stones, or a mixture of both (mixed stones). The bile duct is a channel for bile production, storage, and delivery to the intestine. The bile duct is one of the most complex areas of human anatomy, with numerous variations not only in the bile duct itself but also in the adjacent blood vessels. The gallbladder is a cystic organ containing smooth muscle and elastic fibers, which has the function of storing bile, secreting and absorbing bile components, and driving bile to the intestine through contraction movement. The gallbladder is pear-shaped, about 3-125px wide and 7-250px long, with a capacity of 30-60ml and an internal pressure of up to 4kpa. There are three forms of gallbladder contraction: rhythmic contraction, which occurs 2-6 times per minute; tonic contraction, caused by eating or other bile excretion stimuli; and peristaltic contraction, which occurs in the neck of the gallbladder and the cystic duct, as if it were a sphincter-like movement. The three forms act alternately to cause intermittent bile drainage from the gallbladder.