BACKGROUND: It is known that pain after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy is less compared with an open cholecystectomy. There are various methods of pain relief used but a controversy exists over the effectiveness and value of intraperitoneal local anesthetics. The aim of this study was to investigate which components of pain were more predominant for pain after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, somatic pain or visceral pain. METHODS: Twenty-four patients who received an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were selected. General anesthesia was induced with thiopental sodium and succinylcholine, and maintained with vecuronium and isoflurane. After surgery, the degree of postoperative somatic pain (superficial, sharp and definite in the abdominal wall) and visceral pain (dull, vague and/or colicky in the peritoneal cavity) was assessed at postoperative 1, 3, 6, 9, 24 and 36-hour by a 10 cm-visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and other complaints were recorded. RESULTS: VAS scores of somatic pain were significantly higher than those of visceral pain at all the recorded times. CONCLUSIONS: Somatic pain was predominant after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy compared with visceral pain and it should be helpful to treat pain after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.