A prospective serial ultrasonographic study was conducted to assess the incidence of subhepatic fluid collection in 130 elective cholecystectomy patients with and without surgical drains. Fluid collection was observed in 33(25.4%) of a total of 130 cases, comprising 16 of 60 cases (26.7%) in the drained group and 17 of 70 cases (24.3%) in the undrained group. This difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). At the time of the initial, second, and final serial scans, fluid collection was seen in 22.3% (29/130), 10%(13/30) and 1.5% (2/130) of the cases, respectively. There was no bile leakage among the patient receiving surgical drains, nor did fluid collection continue for more than 2 weeks that manifested clinical symptoms. These results indicate that drainage after uncomplicated elective cholecystectomy is unnecessary, and that the timing of ultrasonographic studies is one of the critical factors in determining the incidence of postcholecystectomy subhepatic fluid collections.