BACKGROUND Intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) is the current gold standard for biliary imaging during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). However, utilization of IOC remains low. Near Infrared Fluorescence Cholangiography (NIRF-C) is a novel, noninvasive method for real-time, intraoperative biliary mapping. Our aims were to assess the safety and efficacy of NIRF-C for identification of biliary anatomy during LC. METHODS Patients were administered indocyanine green (ICG) prior to surgery. NIRF-C was used to identify extrahepatic biliary structures before, and after partial and complete dissection of Calot's triangle. Routine IOC was performed in each case. Identification of biliary structures using NIRF-C and IOC, and time required to complete each procedure were collected. RESULTS Eighty-two patients underwent elective LC with NIRF-C and IOC. Mean age and BMI were 42.6±13.7 years and 31.5±8.2 kg/m2, respectively. ICG was administered 73.8±26.4 minutes prior to incision. NIRF-C was significantly faster than IOC (1.9±1.7 vs. 11.8±5.3 minutes, p<0.001). IOC was unobtainable in 20 (24.4%) patients while NIRF-C did not visualize biliary structures in 4 (4.9%) patients. After complete dissection, the rates of visualization of the cystic duct, common bile duct, and common hepatic duct using NIRF-C were 95.1%, 76.8%, and 69.5%, respectively, compared to 72.0%, 75.6%, and 74.3% for IOC. In 20 patients where IOC could not be obtained, NIRF-C successfully identified biliary structures in 80% of the cases. Higher BMI was not a deterrent to visualization of anatomy with NIRF-C. No adverse events were observed with NIRF-C. CONCLUSIONS NIRF-C is a safe and effective alternative to IOC for imaging extrahepatic biliary structures during LC. This technique should be evaluated further under a variety of acute and chronic gallbladder inflammatory conditions to determine its usefulness in biliary ductal identification.

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Alterations in surgical technique and specimen extraction site can reduce wound-related complications after laparoscopic colorectal resections. Remaining risk factors are largely nonmodifiable from a surgeon's perspective.

There is a dearth of long-term follow-up data to support the effectiveness of RHM. This study demonstrates durable dysphagia relief in the vast majority of patients with a high degree of patient satisfaction and a low rate of esophageal mucosal injury. While a significant proportion of patients report reflux symptoms, these symptoms are well controlled with medical acid suppression.