OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the positivity of cholangiography in patients without formal indication of this exam undergoing elective cholecystectomy. METHODS: We included, in the study, 100 patients whose clinical, laboratory and imaging not older than 10 days before the operation showed no change and therefore kept us unsuspicious of choledocholithiasis. The cholangiographies were analyzed and examined by the surgical team, the radiologist and the authors. The reports were compared and correlated with patients' previous clinical and laboratory findings. RESULTS: The incidence of preoperatively unsuspected choledocholithiasis was only one case (1%). CONCLUSION: The use of selective cholangiography is safe and should be used in the treatment of calculous cholecystitis.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; Choledocolithiasis; Cholelithiasis; Cholangiography
