Biliary scintigraphy: comparison with other modern techniques for evaluation of biliary tract disease.

The recent availability of iminodiacetic acid analogues labeled with technetium Tc 99m provides a safe and accurate noninvasive test of biliary function. Biliary scintigraphy is a simple and rapid method of detecting acute cholecystitis in particular but also of distinguishing acute biliary pancreatitis from nonbiliary pancreatitis, of evaluating the patency of the common duct in early obstruction, of assessing possible postcholecystectomy syndrome, of evaluating the patency of a biliary enteric bypass, and of detecting postoperative biliary leaks.