Results of routine intraoperative cholangiography

Most bile duct injuries result from an incorrect interpretation of bile duct anatomy. In 500 laparoscopic cholecystectomies we used a modified technique of cholecystcholangiography. This method is very easy and needs only 5 minutes. We found variants of bile duct anatomy in 74 cases and occult bile duct stones in 20 patients. We recommend this method which decreases the risk of bile duct injuries and gives the opportunity to approximate the golden standard of conventional cholecystectomy.