Potential hazards of intraoperative cholangiography in patients with infected bile.

To assess the relation of bacteraemia to intraoperative cholangiography 194 patients with choledochlithiasis who underwent choledochotomy and who had intraoperative cholangiography through the cystic duct are presented in this study. It has been shown that, in the presence of infected bile, intraoperative cholangiography without manometric control is hazardous, provoking a high incidence of bacteraemia and associated with considerable mortality and morbidity rate. It is suggested that intraoperative cholangiography should be carried out under manometric control, and that it should be used only with extreme care in patients who are likely to have biliary infections.