Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become the standard surgical approach in the treatment of cholelithiasis. Diverse surgical techniques and different imaging modalities have been described to evaluate the biliary anatomy and prevent or early detect bile duct injuries. X-ray intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) and near infrared indocyanine green fluorescent cholangiography (NIR-ICG) are safe and feasible techniques to assess biliary anatomy. The aim of this systematic review will be to evaluate if NIR-ICG can visualize extrahepatic biliary anatomy more efficiently and safer than IOC in minimally invasive cholecystectomy for gallstone disease.
Methods: Literature search will be performed via MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science Core Collection from 2009 to present. All randomized controlled clinical trials and prospective non-randomized controlled trials which report on comparison of NIR-ICG versus IOC will be included.
Discussion: Understanding the benefits of this technique is critical to ensuring policymakers can make informed decisions as to where preventive efforts should be focused regarding specific imaging techniques. If ICG is proven to be faster and non-invasive, its routine use could be encouraged.
https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-022-01907-6
