Indocyanine Green Use in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy
ABSTRACT
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the surgical treatment of choice for benign diseases of the gallbladder because of the advantage of shorter postoperative hospital stays with faster recovery and cosmetic superiority. However, complications like iatrogenic vascular and bile duct injury are associated with a severe outcome. Most of the intraoperative injuries during use of the laparoscopic technique are due to a misinterpretation of the anatomy. In addition, anatomic variabilities and aberrant anatomy can play a role in intraoperative injuries. Appropriate visualization of the biliary tree can result in reduction of postoperative complications. Incisionless fluorescent cholangiography (FC) with indocyanine green (ICG) has been shown to be a simple and cost-effective technique to recognize the biliary structures. In this chapter, we describe the technical aspects of incisionless fluorescent cholangiography (FC).
