A survey of the accuracy of interpretation of intraoperative cholangiograms

Enhancing Intraoperative Cholangiography Interpretation Skills: A Perceptual Learning Approach for Surgical Residents

OBJECTIVE

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a commonly performed surgery with risk of serious complications. Intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) can mitigate these risks by clarifying the anatomy of the biliary tree and detecting common bile duct injuries. However, mastering IOC interpretation is largely through experience, and studies have shown that even expert surgeons often struggle with this skill. Since no formal curriculum exists for surgical residents to learn IOC interpretation, we developed a perceptual learning (PL)-based training module aimed at improving surgical residents' IOC interpretation skills.

DESIGN

Surgical residents were assessed on their ability to identify IOC characteristics and provide clinical recommendations using an online training module based on PL principles. This research had 2 phases. The first phase involved pre/post assessments of residents trained via the online IOC interpretation module, measuring their IOC image recognition and clinical management accuracy (percentage of correct responses), response time and confidence. During the second phase, we explored the impact of combining simulator-based IOC training with the online interpretation module on same measures as used in the first phase (accuracy, response time, and confidence).

SETTING

The study was conducted at Rush University Medical College in Chicago. The participants consisted of surgical residents from each postgraduate year (PGY). Residents participated in this study during their scheduled monthly rotation through Rush's surgical simulation center.

RESULTS

Total 23 surgical residents participated in the first phase. A majority (95.7%) found the module helpful. Residents significantly increased confidence levels in various aspects of IOC interpretation, such as identifying complete IOCs and detecting abnormal findings. Their accuracy in making clinical management decisions significantly improved from pretraining (mean accuracy 68.1 +/- 17.3%) to post-training (mean accuracy 82.3 +/- 10.4%, p < 0.001). Furthermore, their response time per question decreased significantly from 25 +/- 12 seconds to 17 +/- 12 seconds (p < 0.001). In the second phase, we combined procedural simulator training with the online interpretation module. The 20, first year residents participated and 88% found the training helpful. The training group exhibited significant confidence improvements compared to the control group in various aspects of IOC interpretation with observed nonsignificant accuracy improvements related to clinical management questions. Both groups demonstrated reduced response times, with the training group showing a more substantial, though nonsignificant, reduction.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a PL-based training module for improving aspects of surgical residents' IOC interpretation skills. The module, found helpful by a majority of participants, led to significant enhancements in clinical management accuracy, confidence levels, and decreased response time. Incorporating simulator-based training further reinforced these improvements, highlighting the potential of our approach to address the lack of formal curriculum for IOC interpretation in surgical education.

Contemporary management of common bile duct stone: What you need to know

ABSTRACT

Choledocholithiasis is a common presentation of symptomatic cholelithiasis encountered by the acute care surgeon. There is a wide spectrum of variation in management of this disease due to evolutions in laparoscopic and endoscopic techniques. Intricacies in management are related to the timing of diagnosis as well as locally available imaging modalities, surgical expertise, and ancillary advanced endoscopy and interventional radiological support. While individual patient demographics and institutional characteristics will determine management of choledocholithiasis, it is incumbent for the treating surgeon to be well versed in all manners of therapy currently available. The objective of this review is to provide an evidence-based summary of the contemporary management of choledocholithiasis.

Detection and management of bile duct injury during cholecystectomy

INTRODUCTION

Cholecystectomy represents one of the most performed surgical procedures. Bile duct injuries (BDIs) are a dangerous complication of this intervention. With the advent of the laparoscopy, the rate of BDIs showed a growing trend that was partially justified by the learning curve of this technique.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A literature search was conducted on Embase, Medline, and Cochrane databases to identify studies published up to October 2022 that analyzed the intraoperative detection and management of BDIs diagnosed during cholecystectomy.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

According to the literature, approximately 25% of BDIs is diagnosed during the laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In the clinical suspicion of BDI, an intraoperative cholangiography is performed to confirm it. Complimentary technology, such as near-infrared cholangiography, can be also adopted. Intraoperative ultrasound represents a useful tool to furtherly define the biliary and the vascular anatomy. The proper classification of the type of BDI allows to identify the correct treatment. When a good expertise in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery is available, a direct repair is performed with good outcomes both in case of simple and complex lesions. When the local resources are limited or there is a lack of dedicated surgical experience, patient referral to a reference center shows better outcomes. In particular, complex vasculo-biliary injuries require a highly specialized treatment. The key elements to transfer the patients are a good documentation of the injury, a proper drainage of the abdomen, and an antibiotic therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

BDI management requires a proper diagnostic process and prompt treatment to reduce the morbidity and mortality of this feared complication occurring during cholecystectomy.

Significance of intra-operative cholangiogram and its application in suspected duodenal injuries - Case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Intraoperative cholangiogram has always been a critical procedure that allows identification of biliary anatomy, thereby reducing the risks of bile duct injuries.

CASE PRESENTATION

We present a unique case where the intraoperative cholangiogram highlighted a suspected duodenal injury.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

This case discusses the intraoperative steps taken to ensure there was no injury, highlight the importance of cholangiogram interpretation as a skill for all surgeons.

CONCLUSION

Intraoperative cholangiogram is a crucial procedure to highlight both biliary and non-biliary anatomy and can be used to identify duodenal injuries as was assessed in our case.

Identifying traumatic brain injury (TBI) by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in a mouse model

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common mechanical injuries and plays a significant role in forensic practice. For cadavers, however, accurate diagnosis of TBI becomes a more and more challenging task as the level of decomposition increases. Our main purpose was to investigate whether TBI in putrefied mouse cadavers can be identified by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR). The method proposed by Feeney et al. was used to establish the mouse TBI model. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) modeling were used to distinguish fresh and putrefied brain tissues. Then, we established two PLS-DA models to identify injured area samples in fresh and putrefied brain tissue samples. The accuracy of the two models were 100% and 92.5%. Our preliminary research has proved that the use of FT-IR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics can identify TBI more quickly and accurately in cadavers, providing crucial evidence for judicial proceedings.

Increased ERCP volume improves cholangiogram interpretation: a new performance measure for ERCP training?

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Cholangiogram interpretation is not used as a key performance indicator (KPI) of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) training, and national societies recommend different minimum numbers per annum to maintain competence. This study aimed to determine the relationship between correct ERCP cholangiogram interpretation and experience.

METHODS

One hundred fifty ERCPists were surveyed to appropriately interpret ERCP cholangiographic findings. There were three groups of 50 participants each: "Trainees," "Consultants group 1" (performed >75 ERCPs per year), and "Consultants group 2" (performed >100 ERCPs per year).

RESULTS

Trainees was inferior to Consultants groups 1 and 2 in identifying all findings except choledocholithiasis outside the intrahepatic duct on the initial or completion/occlusion cholangiogram. Consultants group 1 was inferior to Consultants group 2 in identifying Strasberg type A bile leaks (odds ratio [OR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77-0.96), Strasberg type B (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95), and Bismuth type 2 hilar strictures (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.69-0.95).

CONCLUSION

This investigation supports the notion that cholangiogram interpretation improves with increased annual ERCP case volumes. Thus, a higher annual volume of procedures performed may improve the ability to correctly interpret particularly difficult findings. Cholangiogram interpretation, in addition to bile duct cannulation, could be considered as another KPI of ERCP training.

Bile Duct Injury During Cholecystectomy: Necessity to Learn How to Do and Interpret Intraoperative Cholangiography

Introduction: Biliary duct injury (BDI) is a serious complication during cholecystectomy. Perioperative cholangiography (POC) has recently been generating interest in order to prevent BDI. However, the current literature (including randomized controlled trials) cannot conclude whether POC is protective or not against the risk of BDI. The aim of our study was to investigate whether POC could demonstrate earlier BDI and which criteria are required to make that diagnosis.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study between 2005 and 2018 in our French tertiary referral center, which included all patients who had presented following BDI during cholecystectomy.

Results: Twenty-two patients were included. Nine patients had POC, whereas 13 did not. When executed, POC was interpreted as normal for three patients and abnormal for six. In this latter group, only two cases had a BDI diagnosed intraoperatively. In other cases, the interpretation was not adequate.

Conclusion: BDIs are rare but may reduce patients' quality of life. Our study highlights the surgeon's responsibility to learn how to perform and interpret POC in order to diagnose and manage BDIs and potentially avoid catastrophic consequences.

Intraoperative detection of aberrant biliary anatomy via intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the standard of treatment for symptomatic cholelithiasis. Although intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) is widely used as an adjunct to LC, there is still no worldwide consensus on the value of its routine use. Anatomical studies have shown that variations of the biliary tree are present in approximately 35% of patients with variations in right hepatic second-order ducts being especially common (15-20%). Approximately, 70-80% of all iatrogenic bile duct injuries are a consequence of misidentification of biliary anatomy. The purpose of this study was to assess the adequacy of and the reporting of IOCs during LC.

METHODS

IOCs obtained from 300 consecutive LCs between July 2014 and July 2016 were analysed retrospectively by two surgical trainees and confirmed by a radiologist. Biliary tree anatomy was classified from IOC films as described by Couinaud (1957) and correlated with documented findings. The accuracy of intraoperative reporting was assessed. Biliary anatomy was correlated to clinical outcome.

RESULTS

A total of 95% of IOCs adequately demonstrated biliary anatomy. Aberrant right sectoral ducts were identified in 15.2% of the complete IOCs, and 2.6% demonstrated left sectoral or confluence anomalies. Only 20.4% of these were reported intraoperatively. Bile leaks occurred in two patients who had IOCs (0.73%) and two who did not (7.4%).

CONCLUSION

Surgeons generally demonstrate biliary anatomy well on IOC but reporting of sectoral duct variation can be improved. Further research is needed to determine whether anatomical variation is related to ductal injury.

Virtual Intraoperative Cholangiogram Using WebCL

In this paper, we propose a Virtual Intraoperative Cholangiogram (VIC) training platform. Intraoperative Cholangiogram (IC) is an imaging technique of biliary anatomy with using fluorescent fluids sensitive to the X-Rays. The procedure is often employed to diagnose the difficult cases such as abnormal anatomy or choledocholithiasis during the laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The major challenge in cholangiogram is accurate interpretation of the X-Ray image, which requires extensive case training. However, the training platforms that support generation of various IC cases have been lacking. In this study, we developed a web based platform to generate IC images from any virtual bile duct anatomy. As the generation of X-Ray image from 3D scene is a computationally intensive task, we utilized WebCL technology to parallelize the computation for achieving real-time rates. In this work, we present details of our WebCL IC generation algorithm and benchmark results.

Effectiveness of intraoperative cholangiography using indocyanine green (versus contrast fluid) for the correct assessment of extrahepatic bile ducts during day-case laparoscopic cholecystectomy

INTRODUCTION

During cholecystectomy, intraoperative cholangiography using contrast fluid (IOC-CF) is still the "gold standard" for biliary tract identification but has many associated pitfalls. A new IOC technique using indocyanine green (IOC-IG) appears to be promising. Here, we studied the effectiveness of IOC-IG (vs IOC-CF) during day-case laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Over a 6-month period, we included 23 patients (with no cirrhosis or risk factors for choledocholithiasis) scheduled for day-case laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The primary efficacy criterion was the "analyzability rate" (i.e., the ability to identify the cystic duct, the cystic duct-hepatic duct junction, and the common bile duct) for the IOC-CF and IOC-IG procedures after dissection. Indocyanine green was infused under general anesthesia. The same near-infrared laparoscopic imaging system was used for IOC-IG and conventional visual inspection. IOC-CF was always attempted after dissection. Each patient served as his/her own control. Cholecystectomies were video-recorded for subsequent off-line, blind analysis.

RESULTS

The analyzability rate was 74 % for IOC-IG after dissection, 70 % for IOC-CF (p = 0.03), 26 % for conventional visual inspection, and 48 % for IOC-IG before dissection. When each IOC modality (conventional visual inspection, IOC-IG before and after dissection) was considered as a diagnostic test, the accuracy for simultaneous identification of the three anatomic elements was respectively 48, 52, and 74 %. No adverse events occurred during the IOC-IG procedure.

CONCLUSION

IOC-IG was feasible and safe. Our results suggest that this technique is more effective than IOC-CF for biliary tract identification after dissection and may constitute a powerful diagnostic test for the detection of extrahepatic ducts.

Using a standardized method for laparoscopic cholecystectomy to create a concept operation-specific checklist

OBJECTIVES

Prevalences of bile duct injury (BDI) following laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) remain unacceptably high. There is no standardized method for performing an LC. This study aims to describe a standardized technique for LC that will allow for the development of a concept LC checklist, the use of which, it is hoped, will decrease the prevalence of BDI.

METHODS

A standardized method for LC was developed based on previously published expert analysis supplemented by video error analysis of operations in which BDI occurred. Established checklist methodology was then used to construct an LC-specific concept checklist.

RESULTS

A five-step technique for the safe establishment of the critical view was created to guide the development of the checklist. The five steps are: (i) confirm the gallbladder lies in the hepatic principal plane and is retracted to the 10 o'clock position; (ii) confirm Hartmann's pouch is lifted up and toward the segment IV pedicle; (iii) identify Rouvière's sulcus; (iv) confirm the release of the posterior leaf of the peritoneum covering the hepatobiliary triangle, and (v) confirm the critical view with or without intraoperative cholangiography.

CONCLUSIONS

A standardized approach to LC would allow for the creation of an LC-specific checklist that has the potential to lower the prevalence of BDI.

Identifying patients most likely to have a common bile duct stone after a positive intraoperative cholangiogram

The false-positive rates of a positive intraoperative cholangiogram (IOC) are as high as 60%. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for stone removal is required after a positive IOC. It is unclear which clinical factors identify patients most likely to have a stone after a positive IOC. This study was conducted to identify factors predictive of common bile duct (CBD) stone(s) on ERCP after a positive IOC. A retrospective review of our endoscopic database identified all ERCP and/or endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) procedures performed for a positive IOC between August 2003 and August 2009. Collected data included patient demographics; indication for cholecystectomy; IOC findings; blood tests before and after cholecystectomy, including liver function tests, complete blood count, and amylase and lipase measurements; and ERCP and/or EUS results. Patients who had a negative EUS for CBD stones and no subsequent ERCP were contacted by phone to see if they eventually required an ERCP. Univariate and multi-variable analyses were performed. A total of 114 patients were included in the study. IOC findings included a single stone, multiple stones, nonpassage of contrast into the duodenum, dilated CBD, and poor visualization of the bile duct. Eighty-four percent of patients had ERCP only, 9% had EUS only, and 7% had EUS followed by ERCP. Sixty-five patients (57%) had CBD stones on ERCP or EUS. Older age, multiple stones, dilated CBD on IOC, and elevated postcholecystectomy bilirubin levels were the clinical variables with statistically significant differences on univariate analysis. On multivariable analysis, older age and elevated postcholecystectomy total bilirubin levels correlated with the presence of CBD stones on ERCP. Fifty-seven percent of patients referred for endoscopic evaluation after a positive IOC had CBD stones on ERCP. Patients with CBD stones after a positive IOC were more likely to be older with elevated post-cholecystectomy total serum bilirubin levels.

Does routine intra-operative cholangiography reduce the risk of biliary injury during laparoscopic cholecystectomy? An evidence-based approach

The role of routine intra-operative cholangiography (IOC) during cholecystectomy remains controversial. The purpose of this evidence-based review was to analyze the role of IOC in the prevention and detection of biliary ductal injury during cholecystectomy. The relative rarity of biliary complications means that the randomized trials and meta-analyses that include fewer than 12,000 patients cannot answer the question. Therefore, only six comparative studies were included in this review. The conclusions of these studies were conflicting, half showing a protective effect of routine IOC and the other half showing no effect. Nevertheless, the U.S. and Swedish studies that included the largest number of patients suggested that, while not a panacea, routine IOC could prevent major biliary injuries (one ductal injury per 500 cholecystectomies). Finally, in the context of risk management, we must also emphasize the educational value of teaching young (and not so young) surgeons how to correctly interpret the operative cholangiogram.