Operative cholangiography

Intraoperative cholangiography. A review of indications and analysis of age-sex groups

A retrospective review was performed of patients who had biliary tract stone formation as the primary diagnosis for hospitalization and indication for surgery. Five hundred and eighty-nine consecutive charts were reviewed of patients admitted between 1975 and 1979. Intraoperative cholangiography was performed in 166 patients of whom 22 had common duct exploration. Choledochotomy in this series was performed in 63 cases without utilizing pre-exploratory cholangiography. A normal intraoperative cholangiogram was found to be 100% accurate; however, an abnormal cholangiogram was associated with a 16% false positive rate of exploration of the common duct. The incidence of unsuspected common duct stones detected only by intraoperative cholangiography was 2.3%. Age-sex analysis confirms a 10-year mean age difference between men and women within the population of this study (p less than 0.001). This age-sex difference is maintained in patients without common duct pathology as well as in patients with sterile bile. However, the mean age difference between male and female patients with either demonstrable common duct obstruction by stones or infected bile as determined by routine intraoperative culture is not statistically significant. A review of the role of intraoperative cholangiography, and the experience at Northeastern Hospital is discussed.

Cost-effectiveness of operative cholangiography

(1) Three hundred seventy-seven of 1,616 patients undergoing cholecystectomy between January 1, 1971 and December 31, 1975 had intraoperative cholangiograms and form the basis for this study. (2) The cholangiograms of thirty-seven patients were interpreted as positive for ductal disease, but only twenty-three had confirmed disease on common bile duct exploration. The average false-positive rate was 38 per cent per year. (3) One hundred nine patients had cholangiograms because of small stones in the gallbladder, and only one study was true-positive. (4) One hundred nineteen patients had cholangiograms without any clinical indication for the study. Only one was true-positive for intraductal disease. (5) Operative cholangiograms done routinely or for multiple small stones rarely reveal intraductal disease (2 of 228, or 0.9 per cent). (6) Of 149 cholangiograms in patients with clinical indications other than multiple small stones, twenty-one of twenty-six positive cholangiograms were true-positive, for an 81 per cent accuracy. (7) Operative time was prolonged an average of 31 minutes when cholangiography was performed. (8) The 377 cholangiograms cost $21,866. Of the 228 studies done routinely or for only multiple small stones, two were positive, for a cost of $6,612 per positive examination. (9) Therefore, to be cost-effective, the use of intraoperative cholangiography is indicated only when standard criteria for ductal exploration, with the exception of the presence of small calculi, are present.

One per cent incidence of recurrent gallstones six to eight years after manometric cholangiography

The national incidence of retained and recurrent common duct stones is between 2 and 7%. A prospective comparison of operative common duct pressure flow rates as opposed to operative cholangiography was commenced in 1968 to assay another diagnostic technique to assist in the reduction of this rather high incidence of recurrence. We are now reporting the 6-8 year follow-up data on the first 200 patients, 190 (95%) of whom were reevaluated in 1977. In our inital reports we were surprised to find that our accuracy with flow and pressure studies was 93%, not significantly different from that found with operative cholangiography (92%). The measurements of flow, resting pressure, and opening pressure in the patients with stones or strictures at the lower end of the bile duct were each significantly different from those found in normal ducts (p < 0.001). We considered normal flow to be 10 ml/min saline at 30 cm of pressure and normal intrabiliary pressure to be less than 16 cm of saline was measured through the cystic duct. To date only one individual has had to undergo reoperation for stones and another for recurrent biliary obstruction. A third individual is suspected of, but not proven, to have a retained stone. No patient who had a normal operative cholangiogram, flow and pressure studies, has had a late recurrence of stones. We have presented the specifications of a new catheter for performing flow and pressure x-ray studies, which we feel may be used to primarily evaluate the distal duct with greater accuracy and clarity. We think that this inexpensive but reliable method has an important place in biliary surgery, particularly where operative cholangiography may not be available, or, for one reason or, another, is not reliable.

Operative fluoroscopy and cholangiography. The use of modern radiologic technics during surgery

Operative cholangiography as currently performed in many hospitals in the United States may be a cumbersome procedure yielding less than optimal information. For maximal accuracy and diagnostic yield, operative radiographic examination of the biliary tract should include fluoroscopic observation and aimed spot films. The advantages gained by using modern radiologic equipment and technics are increased image clarity, increased capability for functional assessment of a dynamic system, increased efficiency, and decreased radiation hazard. In a series of 100 patients undergoing operative cholangiography by our technic, only one retained stone was demonstrated by postoperative studies. Five anomalies of the ductal system were easily identified and possible injury to the anomalous ducts averted. Considering the morbidity and mortality attendant upon inadequate or inappropriate biliary tract operations, investment in the sophisticated equipment necessary for optimal operative radiography is small indeed.

Transcystic duct operative cholangiography. Personal experiences with 500 consecutive cases

Of 500 consecutive cholecystectomy patients, sixty-nine had clinical indications for common bile duct exploration and twenty-nine of these yielded stones for an overall accuracy rate of 42%. Of the 431 remaining patients, thirty-six demonstrated abnormal cholangiograms and in these, twenty-six yielded stones within the common duct, representing and incidence of 6% of unsuspected stones. Of the total series of 500 patients, sixty-one showed cholangiographic indications for common duct exploration and fifty were positive for stones for an overall accuracy of 82%. The overall incidence of common duct stone recovery was 11%. It is concluded that transcystic duct operative cholangiography should be performed routinely during cholecystectomy when feasible.