Intraoperative Cholangiography in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Catherine Hall, Slesha Amatya, Ramesh Shanmugasundaram, Ngee‐Soon Lau, Edwin Beenen, Sivakumar Gananadha
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Routine intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) for laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) remains controversial. The primary outcomes of this meta-analysis were detection rates of choledocholithiasis, bile duct injuries (BDI), and missed stones in LCs. Methods: statistics were used for heterogeneity analysis. Results: Fourteen studies involving 440659 patients were included. In studies comparing routine and selective IOC policies in LC, 61.1% of patients underwent routine IOC; 38.9% underwent selective IOC. In studies comparing IOC to no IOC in LC, 17.3% of patients had IOC; 82.7% did not. Between the selective and routine IOC groups there was no difference in choledocholithiasis detection rate (odds ratio [OR] = 1.33, p = 0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.86 - 2.04), no difference in the rate of missed stones (OR = 1.59, p = 0.58; 95% CI = 0.31 - 8.29), and no difference in BDI rates in selective compared to routine IOC (OR = 0.92, p = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.20 - 4.22). There was no difference in the BDI detection rates in LC with and without IOC (OR = 1.12, p = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.52 - 2.38). Conclusion: This is the largest meta-analysis on this topic to date. There was no statistically significant difference in choledocholithiasis detection, missed stones, or BDI rates in the analyzed groups.