Cystic Duct Exploration in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.

Background: Bile duct injury (BDI) is a severe complication following cholecystectomy and is therefore a particularly concerning surgical predicament for hepatobiliary surgeons. Owing to very high medical compensation awarded to patients suffering from BDI, surgeons need to exercise caution during surgery to avoid BDI. Herein, we explored a novel method to identify cystic duct during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), expanding the applicability of this surgical approach.

Methods: Patients receiving LC between April 2021 and October 2022 at the Gaoyou People's Hospital were included in this retrospective clinical study and divided into two groups according to whether the cystic duct was incised (one group with LC alone, while another with laparoscopic cholecystectomy and cystic duct exploration [LCCDE]). Clinical and baseline characteristics of patients were collected, and the preoperative and postoperative biochemical parameters were compared. The surgical outcomes of LCCDE were observed.

Results: A total of 114 patients had undergone LC, while 162 patients had received LCCDE as treatment. There were no significant differences in age, gender, common bile duct diameter, preoperative and postoperative biochemical parameters between the two groups. No significant difference in the mean operation time between the LC and LCCDE groups was noted ( = 0.409). In the LCCDE group, white secretions in the cystic duct were observed in 92 patients (56.8%).

Conclusions: The presence of intraoperative white secretions in the cystic duct may further confirm the presence of cystic duct, thereby enabling earlier detection of BDI. Importantly, LCCDE, as the new surgical method explored in this study, does not extend the operation time.