A Safe Stepwise Approach to the Critical View of Safety During Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

The procedure starts with a standard laparoscopic port placement starting with an open umbilical technique using a Hassan trocar. Three 5mm trocars are subsequently placed on the epigastrium and right upper quadrant. The pneumoperitoneum is achieved. After adequate retraction of the gallbladder the operative surgeon will focus on an imaginary ¢Y¢shaped line that divides the cystic duct and artery and continues towards the gallbladder infundibulum. In this case the hepatic artery was unusually present in the dissection field. The goal is to create the space between this two structures staying as close as possible to the gallbladder away from the common bile duct. The dissection is carried out in a vertical fashion with an ¢L¢ shape monopolar electrocautery. In this case the cystic artery was short and small and was cauterized with the monopolar instrument. The angle between the cystic duct and the gallbladder is further dissected to create a free passage of the instrument as high as possible. The critical view is created. And Calot's triangle is identified. The cystic duct is clipped and divided and the cholecystectomy is completed in a standard fashion

Symptomatic cholelithiasis

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Laparoscopic instruments

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