Laparoscopic Ultrasonography in Benign and Malignant Biliary Diseases

In the mid 1980s, intraoperative ultrasonography (US) during open surgery was reported to be an effective procedure for the detection and the staging of benign and malignant disease of the gallbladder and bile ducts. However, only a few surgical groups proposed its routine use during biliary tract surgery (Jakimovicz et al. 1987).