[Intraoperative echography in the diagnosis of obstructive jaundice of undetermined cause]

Intraoperative ultrasonography was performed in a consecutive series of 11 patients with obstructive jaundice. On two occasions, the examination modified the preoperative diagnosis, diagnosing liver metastasis in a patient with hydatid cysts and in another by detecting gallstones in the main biliary duct in which ERCP was suggestive of an ampullary tumor. Ultrasound made a definitive diagnosis of choledocholithiasis in one case, and pancreatic carcinoma in three cases all of which had a preoperative diagnosis of biliary obstruction of undetermined cause. The examination defined accurately the level of obstruction and the extent of a carcinoma of the bile ducts in two patients and it helped in obtaining cytological samples from a pancreatic tumor mass. Its use is recommended when the cause of biliary obstruction cannot be accurately diagnosed preoperatively.