Routine or indicated operative cholangiography?

An assessment was made both the reliability of routine operative cholangiography and of the incidence of unsuspected common duct stones identified by this technique. It is suggested that its disadvantages, in particular the incidence of unnecessary bile duct explorations consequent upon false-positive cholangiograms, make routine operative cholangiography undesirable. If any suspicion of common duct stone exists by virtue of clinical, biochemical or operative findings, an operative cholangiogram should be performed. Following adoption of this policy our findings suggest that the incidence of undetected stone will be negligible.