Sonography accurately detects biliary obstruction in patients with surgically created biliary-enteric anastomosis

The use of sonography to determine the patency of surgically created biliary-enteric anastomoses has been questioned by authors who favor use of cholescintigraphy and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography for this purpose. We retrospectively reviewed the sonographic findings in 35 patients with such anastomoses: 16 choledochojejunostomies, 11 choledochoduodenostomies, five intrahepatic cholangiojejunostomies, and three cholecystoenterostomies. The anastomosis was patent in 25 patients, completely obstructed in four, and partially obstructed in six. Five of the 25 patients with patent anastomoses had nonanastomotic complications with biliary stasis and cholangitis. In the 20 patients with patent anastomoses and no complication, sonography showed bile ducts ranging from 2 to 9 mm in diameter filled with bile (six), gas (two), or both (12). No patient with a normally functioning anastomosis had evidence of a dilated bile-filled duct in the upright position. In four patients with complete obstruction of the anastomosis, sonography showed dilated, bile-filled ducts ranging from 6 to 14 mm in diameter proximal to the anastomosis. Sonograms in all six patients with partial obstruction showed both gas and bile in dilated bile ducts with superficial gas-filled ducts and dependent bile-filled ducts creating gas/fluid interfaces, which were persistent in the upright position. The 15 patients with anastomotic obstruction or other complication had confirmatory percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (nine patients), scintigraphy (five patients), CT (four patients), and surgery (eight patients). Our experience suggests that sonography can be used to accurately assess surgically created biliary-enteric anastomoses for both anastomotic patency and for other complications.