A Radionuclide Study on the Effectiveness of Drainage After Elective Cholecystectomy

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Passive drainage after elective cholecystectomy was studied in six patients. Their erythrocytes were labeled in vitro with technetium-99mTc and injected via the drain after operation. After one hour, we were able to recover labeled erythrocytes and free pertechnetate from peripheral blood. After 24 hours, a large part of the injected erythrocytes had been evacuated via the drain. In eight patients subjected to cholecystectomy, 99mTc-HIDA was injected intravenously after the operation. In four cases, in which the gallbladder bed was raw, the activity ratio discharge/blood rapidly reached extremely high values. In the other four cases, in which the liver surface had not been denuded, the ratio was much lower. Passive drainage is a useful device for evacuation intra-abdominal bile or hemolysed blood after cholecystectomy, especially when the gallbladder bed has been denuded.