Traumatic rupture of the gallbladder is a very rare event associated with high mortality. Since clinical symptoms are nonspecific, diagnosis is difficult. We present an alcoholic with biliary ascites after traumatic perforation of the gallbladder. Initially, he was misdiagnosed to have ascites caused by liver cirrhosis. This case demonstrates, that the combination of patients history, clinical investigation and ultrasound allows the diagnosis of traumatic rupture of the gallbladder.