The role of intravenous cholangiography in pre-operative assessment for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

With the advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, pre-operative identification of calculi in the common bile duct has become increasingly important. In patients without clinical or biochemical evidence of common bile duct calculi, debate continues as to the value of intravenous cholangiography (IVC) as a screening modality for the detection of unsuspected choledocholithiasis. In a prospective series of 180 patients, IVC was used to assess the common bile duct in 113 patients at low risk of choledocholithiasis, 51 patients at high risk underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) and sphincterotomy if indicated, and in 16 patients, for a variety of reasons, no pre-operative cholangiography was performed. 31% of those who had ERC and two (1.8%) of those who had IVC had duct calculi. These data do not support the routine use of IVC in patients with no evidence of common bile duct calculi and its routine use has been discontinued.