Since the measurement of quality of life is a relevant endpoint of patient assessment, an international team of methodologists and surgeons have developed a new system-specific index. In different phases, items were collected, tested, rejected or retained and finally verified by international experts. The instrument was also validated against other generic measures, it was compared to 150 normals, tested for reproducibility with 50 stable patients and for responsiveness with 159 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The product is a bilingual (German and English) questionnaire containing 36 items. Although further testing is in order, we conclude that the Gastrointestinal Quality-of-Life Index is ready to be used in clinical practice and research.