Value of intraoperative sonography.

Use of intraoperative ultrasonography during biliary tract surgery offers several advantages. It is highly reliable in detecting and localizing pathology in the common bile duct and papillary area, it provides important information with regard to the anatomy and has a potential for wide application. The use of intraoperative ultrasonography is costeffective and with proper equipment and training the method can be easily learned and performed reliably. It is a valuable diagnostic tool, supporting the surgeon in operative decision making and worth to be recommended as an alternative and even a substitute for intraoperative radiography. We need to abandon often retoric debates on the role and place of intraoperative cholangiography and manometry in biliary surgery, become less dogmatic and more open minded dare to enter the age of technological advances not only in diagnostics but also in surgical techniques.[/p] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]