Objective: To investigate the cause of hemorrhage from the gallbladder bed during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Methods: Color Doppler ultrasound was used to examine the cause of venous hemorrhage from the gallbladder bed during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1 patient postoperatively and to examine the anatomic relationship between the gallbladder bed and branches of the middle hepatic vein in 91 patients preoperatively.
Results: There is a major branch of middle hepatic vein extended close to the gallbladder bed. The branch of the middle hepatic vein was completely adherent to the gallbladder bed in 14 of 91 patients (15.4%). The mean distance between the closest point of the middle hepatic vein and the gallbladder bed is 5.0 +/- 4.6 mm, the mean diameter of this point is 3.2 +/- 1.1 mm.
Conclusions: Patients with large branches of the middle hepatic vein close to the gallbladder bed are at risk of hemorrhage during laparoscopic cholecystectomy and should be identified preoperatively with ultrasound.