Intraoperative measurement of the bile flow resistance in the terminal portion of the common bile duct and its clinical significance in biliary surgery

Summary

A practical method, safe and relatively simple to perform, which we have developed for the intra-operative measurement of the resistance to bile flow in the terminal portion of the common bile duct is described. This method performed routinely in conjunction with the operative cholangiography in the operating room, proved to be a powerful diagnostic aid for detecting abnormalities in the terminal portion of the common bile duct. In gallstone disease, the results by this method were compared with the operative results. It was found that minimal organic changes or functional disturbances in the terminal portion of the common bile duct, even those without jaundice, can be detected, and unnecessary choledochotomy or sphincteroplasty avoided. This method has a further advantage in that it gives universality to the resistance R and the residual pressure P as quantitative discriptive indices for the qualitative state of bile flow in the terminal portion of the common bile duct, and, if adopted as a standard and routine method, should make the comparison of works by different investigators easier and more significant.