[Preliminary study of the feasibility of intraoperative ultrasonography of the biliary tract during cholecystectomy under celioscopy].

Peroperative echography and cholangiography provide similar information during the exploration of the biliary tree for conventional surgery for gall stones. Peroperative cholangiography is more difficult to perform via the coeolioscope with a failure rate of 10% in the most skillful teams. We investigated the technical feasibility of peroperative echography during coeliosurgery for gall stones. The technique was performed in 13 patients using a pulsed Doppler 7.5 MHz scan laparoscope. The entire biliary tree was successfully imaged in 12 patients and the three structures of the hepatic pedicle were identified in all cases. The exploration took less than 10 minutes and there was no morbidity. One gall stone was discovered and endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed immediately. None of the patients presented signs suggesting residual lithiasis with a mean follow-up of 2 months. This preliminary study suggests that the technique is very favourably feasible and may play an important role in the exploration of the bile tract during coelioscopic cholecystectomy.