Significance of intraoperative fibercholangioscopy in the diagnosis of biliary tract disorders.

Intraoperative fibercholangioscopy allows direct inspection of the entire biliary tree up to the secondary distributaries. In 100 patients with suspected biliary tract pathology on account of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography the following findings were obtained: choledocholithiasis (solitary or multiple) in 66, biliary mud in 4, stricutres in 15, common bile duct carcinoma in 8, choledochal cyst in 1 and extrinsic lesions in 6. Peroral direct transpapillary cholangioscopy is still in an experimental stage but its results are promising.