[Ultrasonic study of the bile ducts in patients after cholecystectomy]

Ultrasonic examination (USE) of the bile tract was conducted in 287 patients with removed gallbladder. The choleretic test based on comparative appraisal of the lumen of the bile ducts before and after medication with pharmacological agents stimulating bile secretion was performed in 167 cases to increase the USE efficacy. USE allowed choledocholithiasis to be diagnosed in 24 of 30 patients and obstruction of the bile ducts in 60 of 67 patients. The sensitivity of USE in pneumobilia detection was appraised highly. Preference was given to radiological methods of examination of patients with external biliary fistulae and drains in the common biliary duct in comparison with USE. The authors believe USE to be the optimal means for primary diagnosis of biliary pathology in persons with removed gallbladder, which can be undertaken in out-patient conditions and which reduces the need for conducting invasive radio-endoscopic examination (endoscopic retrograde cholangiography) in such patients.