The recommended treatment for nonparasitic hepatic cysts (NPHC) has been either resection or drainage into a Roux loop of jejunum. From 1970-1984 a more conservative approach to NPHC was adopted in 22 patients with large symptomatic cysts. Seventeen patients were treated with simple unroofing without complication. By comparison, two of three patients treated by Roux-en-Y drainage developed infected hepatic cysts that required subsequent surgical drainage. Patients treated by external drainage without unroofing or hepatic resection had either cyst recurrence or complications. In conclusion, wide unroofing is the treatment of choice for NPHC even when the cyst fluid is bile stained.