[Endoscopy and radiocontrast methods in the diagnosis of jaundice].

The authors studied the diagnostic possibilities of gastroduodenoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCPG), fibrocholangioscopy, and operative cholangiography in 235 patients with obstructive jaundice of various genesis. Most frequently the first method to be applied was gastroduodenoscopy, which made it possible to identify the cause of the obstruction in 36 (15.9%) patients. ERCPG revealed the cause of obstructive jaundice in most cases (96.7%), but its results coincided with the operative findings completely only in 72.2% of cases. Operative fibrocholangioscopy was conducted in 164 patients wand showed that in 56 (34.1%) the stones had not been removed; in 22 patients the stones were in the intrahepatic bile ducts and were revealed only by cholangioscopy, in 34 patients stones were found in the terminal part of the choledochus in 6 of these cases previous probing did not reveal impaired passage into the duodenum. Analysis of the results of the study provide evidence that preoperative methods of examination are very sensitive in identification of the causes of jaundice, but intraoperative methods of examination are decisive in the choice of the operative management.