Acute experimental biliary obstruction in the dog: sonographic findings and clinical implications.

Three dogs were serially studied with sonography after cholecystectomy and total acute biliary obstruction. Peripheral biliary dilatation could be diagnosed as early as 4 hr after biliary obstruction and before significant elevation of serum bilirubin. These experimental results support the thesis that total biliary obstruction may be diagnosed before the onset of icterus.