Rouviere's sulcus: Review of an anatomical landmark to prevent common bile duct injury

Critical View of Safety Dissection and Rouviere's Sulcus for Safe Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Descriptive Study

Objective: To determine the importance of a critical view of safety (CVS) techniques and Rouviere's sulcus (RS) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and its relation to biliary duct injuries (BDIs) and to determine the frequency and the type of RS. Design, Setting, and Participants: A descriptive study was carried out among 76 patients presenting to the surgery department of a tertiary care center in Nepal. The study population included all patients in the age group 16-80 years undergoing LC. Outcome Measures: The main outcome of interest was to calculate the percentage of BDIs along with the frequency and the type of RS. Results: A total of 76 patients were enrolled in the study, out of which 57(75%) were female patients with a male-to-female ratio of 1:3 and a mean age of 45.87 ± 15.33 years. Seventy-one (93.4%) patients were diagnosed with symptomatic gallstone disease. The CVS was achieved in 75 (98.7%) of the cases, whereas in 1 case, the CVS could not be achieved, and in the same patient routine LC was converted into open cholecystectomy owing to the difficult laparoscopic procedure. In 56 (73.7%) cases, RS was first visible to the operating surgeons after port installation, alignment, and adequate traction of the gallbladder; in 20 (26.3%) cases, RS was not originally apparent. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study and the literature's critical assessment of safety, this method will soon become a gold standard for dissecting gall bladder components. The technique needs to be extended further, especially for training purposes. Major difficulties can be avoided by identifying RS before cutting the cystic artery or duct during LC.

Morphology of the sulcus of the caudate process (Rouviere's sulcus) in a Greek population and a systematic review with meta-analysis

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and to investigate the morphology of the sulcus of the caudate process in a Greek population, along with a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Overall, 103 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were included in the analysis. The sulcus was present in 91% and three morphological variants were identified (groove 69%, slit 21% and scar 10%). The sulcus had a horizontal course in 90% of patients and a mean length of 25 ± 13 mm. The meta-analysis included 27 surgical and 11 cadaveric studies with 6661 cases in total. The pooled prevalence of the sulcus was 80% and did not differ significantly among various geographical regions. Concerning sulcus subtypes, the binary "open/fused" classification was used to unify the heterogeneous data. The "open" type was more frequent than the "fused" (64.5% vs 35.5%). A horizontal course was observed in 53.5% and an oblique in 45.7%. The sulcus contained the right portal pedicle in 38%, the right posterior portal pedicle in 37%, and the right posteroinferior pedicle in 23.5%. In conclusion, the sulcus of the caudate process is a very helpful anatomical landmark in hepatectomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy and can be identified in the majority of patients. However, various classifications for the morphological variants and diverse terminology cause discrepancy in the literature and create the need for a single classification system. The proposed 3-tier classification (groove, slit, scar) is simple and easy to remember and avoids ambiguous nomenclature.

The prevalence of the Rouviere's sulcus: A meta-analysis with implications for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Rouvière's sulcus (RS) is increasingly being recognized as an important extra-biliary landmark during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic analysis of the prevalence and morphological types of RS. A systematic search was conducted through the major databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SciELO, and the Cochrane Library to identify studies eligible for inclusion. The data were extracted and pooled into a random-effects meta-analysis using STATA software. The primary and secondary outcomes of the study were the pooled prevalence of RS and its morphological types, respectively. A total of 23 studies (n = 4,495 patients) were included. The overall pooled prevalence of RS was 83% (95% confidence interval [CI] [78, 87]). There were no significant differences in prevalence between cadaveric studies (82%, 95% CI [76, 87]) and laparoscopic studies (83%, 95% CI [77, 88]). The open RS constituted 66% (95% CI [61, 71]) of all cases, while the closed type was present in 34% (95% CI [29, 39]). RS is a relatively constant anatomical structure that can be reliably identified in most patients undergoing cholecystectomy. It can therefore be used as a fixed extra-biliary landmark for the appropriate site at which to start dissecting during LC to help prevent iatrogenic bile duct injury.