The effects of morphine on biliary dynamics. A scintigraphic study with 99mTc-HIDA.

The effect of morphine on biliary dynamics was studied by cholescintigraphy with 99mTc-HIDA. Among 30 normals without morphine injection 3 did not demonstrate intestinal radioactivity after 1 h, whereas all visualized the gallbladder. Eight normals with morphine injection did not demonstrate intestinal radioactivity after 2 h, but all had gallbladder visualization very early. Variables of the time-activity curves from liver areas did not point to impaired uptake or excretion. Morphine-induced increase in resistance to passage from the common duct to the intestines in normals is of a magnitude that forces the total amount of bile to accumulate in the gallbladder. Results from 11 patients after cholecystectomy indicate that the increase in pressure is less than the maximal secretory pressure of the liver. The resorptive capacity and the compliance of the gallbladder enable these events to take place without signs of secondary liver impairment.