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Abstract
Ultrasonic scanning of the right upper quadrant was performed in four patients with
jaundice and fever. Each patient had undergone a previous cholecystectomy with common
bile duct exploration for biliary tract calculi. No patient at that time revealed
retained stones on either intraoperative or postoperative cholangiograms. In none
of the patients studied was the exact nature of the obstruction appreciated by the
clinical and laboratory data available. All patients revealed biliary duct dilatation
on ultrasound, and the majority demonstrated a bile duct calculous as well. Based
on our experience, we do not recommend that ultrasonic scanning be substituted for
oral or intravenous cholangiography when the latter can be performed. Nor should ultrasonic
scanning be used to replace endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, percutaneous
transhepatic cholangiography, or even liver biopsy if these procedures are indicated
and can be completed with a reasonable degree of safety. However, we have found that
ultrasound can be very helpful in the occasional patient whose biliary tract obstruction
defies exact diagnosis when routine dye studies and invasive diagnostic procedures
are neither accurate nor feasible.
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References
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Article info
Footnotes
☆Presented at the Thirty-fourth Annual Meeting of the Central Surgical Association, Buffalo, N. Y., March 3–5, 1977.
Identification
Copyright
© 1977 Published by Elsevier Inc.
