Ultrasound‐guided percutaneous choledochocentesis in a cat with cholelithiasis, choledocholithiasis and cholangitis due to Klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract

A 13‐year‐old female cat was presented at our Veterinary Teaching Hospital with hyporexia and prostration. The animal underwent cholecystectomy 2 months previously due to partial biliary obstruction resulting from cholecystitis, multiple cholelithiasis, choledocholithiasis, dilation and tortuosity of the bile ducts. Due to the impossibility of puncturing the gall bladder and the persistence of dilation and tortuosity of the extra‐ and intrahepatic ducts identified by ultrasound, a dilated intrabiliary duct was punctured. The objective of the present study was to report the ultrasound‐guided percutaneous choledochocentesis technique, which, to our knowledge, is the first report of its performance in cats. The material was obtained for bile culture and antibiogram, which identified the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae, which was multiresistant to most antibiotics and uncommon in the biliary system. The technique was performed uneventfully, and was essential in the present report to assist in the presumptive diagnosis and treatment of cholangitis associated with cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis.