The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the results of laparoscopic and open early cholecystectomy in patients with acute cholecystitis. From January 1997 to October 2000, 168 patients underwent cholecystectomy in our institution. Of the 35 patients (20.8%) with acute cholecystitis, 20 patients (57.1%) were operated on laparoscopically and the other 15 patients (42.9%) with the traditional open approach. The two groups were similar in terms of age, sex and onset of symptoms. The postoperative morbidity was 15.0% in the laparoscopic group versus 40.0% in the open group. The average postoperative hospital stay in the laparoscopic group was 5.1 days as compared to 10.5 days in the open group (P = 0.013). The conversion rate to laparotomy was 5.0% (1 case). At follow-up there has been one case of incisional hernia in the open group. Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis was associated with a lower postoperative morbidity rate and significantly earlier patient discharge.