Abdominal ultrasonography following laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective study

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has gained widespread acceptance as the operation of choice for symptomatic gall-stones. We prospectively performed ultrasonography on 100 consecutive patients after laparoscopic cholecystectomy to determine the effect of this procedure on common bile duct diameter. This study also examines the incidence and clinical significance of intra-abdominal fluid collections after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Our results show that 24% of patients had dilatation of the common duct (greater than 6 mm) when scanned 48 h post-operatively. The incidence of dilated common ducts fell to 9% when the patients were scanned 1 month later. This transient dilatation of the common duct, occurring post-operatively, has not been previously described. Intra-abdominal fluid collections were demonstrated in 10% of our patients but were clinically significant in only 1%. This study suggests that routine ultrasonography has a low yield immediately after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.