Laparoscopic management of enlarged cystic duct.

After laparoscopic exploration of the common bile duct, or when a patient has acute cholecystitis, the cystic duct is sometimes edematous and too large to be ligated safely with an Endoclip. In such cases, ligation of the cystic duct with an Endoloop offers a solution to the problem. The standard technique for application of an Endoloop consists of dividing the cystic duct and then applying the Endoloop. This becomes more difficult if, after the cystic duct is divided, loss of traction on the common bile duct results in retraction of the divided cystic stump outside of the laparoscopic field of view. To avoid this difficulty, the authors apply an Endoloop with the grasping forceps on the cystic duct before the duct is divided so that it cannot retract from operative view and for this task developed an instrument that allows simultaneous introduction of both grasping forceps and the Endoloop through a single port.