SINCE operative cholangiography * was first described by Mirizzi, in 1932, it has proved to be of inestimable aid to the surgeon, with ultimate benefit to the patient. The real advantages of operative cholangiography are (1) to detect calculi in the intrahepatic and extrahepatic ducts; (2) to differentiate dysfunction of the sphincter of Oddi (i. e., transitory or prolonged spasm), hypertrophy, inflammation, and eventual fibrosis; (3) to differentiate pancreatitis from tumor; and (4), in secondary operations of the biliary tract, to enable the operator to become anatomically oriented in planning surgery with a minimum loss of time.
These advantages, together with the fact that this procedure is readily adaptable to any operating room, have been well documented in the literature by Mirizzi, Mallet-Guy, Partington and Sachs, Mixter, Hermanson and Segel, and Norman. For this procedure, as in many others in the field of medicine, wholehearted cooperation is required of the surgeon,