title: Bile leaks after simple cholecystectomy.
abstract: Drains after cholecystectomy are used commonly to avoid biliary leaks and subsequent peritonitis. Thirty-five patients who had had cholecystectomy without drainage underwent 99mTc-labelled dimethylphenylcarbamoylmethyliminodiacetic acid (HIDA) and ultrasound scans the morning after surgery. Biliary leaks detected by positive HIDA scans occurred in 11 patients. Subhepatic fluid collections were seen on 20 ultrasound scans. There was no relation between biliary leaks and subhepatic collections. Many of the collections were not seen on the HIDA scan, suggesting that they contained blood and not bile. Many of the patients with bile leaks showed no fluid collection. Clinical complications were few and evenly distributed between those with positive and negative scans. We conclude that bile leaks are not an occasional event but occur after 31 per cent of undrained cholecystectomies and that these bile leaks remain clinically unimportant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rayter
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tonge
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D001646:Bile; D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007098:Imino Acids; D008297:Male; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019780:Technetium Tc 99m Lidofenin; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D007098:Imino Acids; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019780:Technetium Tc 99m Lidofenin