INTRAOPERATIVE SONOGRAPHY OF BILIARY TREE DURING LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY

The use of routine cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy is still under debate. Previous reports have suggested that intraoper ative sonography can replace cholangiography in the evaluation of comm on duct lithiasis during open cholecystectomy. The present study was p erformed to evaluate the possible role of sonography during laparoscop ic cholecystectomy. Thirty patients underwent intraoperative sonograph y of the biliary tree during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In cases wi th a diagnosis of common bile duct lithiasis, intraoperative cholangio graphy was performed. In 26 cases, sonography did not show the presenc e of stones; in three cases, stones were identified at both sonography and cholangiography; in one case, stones were diagnosed by sonography alone. In this last case, stones were confirmed on later review of ch olangiogram. No complications related to the method were observed. We suggest that intraoperative sonography can represent an adequate subst itute for intraoperative cholangiography as a screening procedure for stone identification during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.