Objective: To evaluate the validity of ultrasonography in patients who have obstructive jaundice.
Design: A descriptive retrospective study.
Setting: Surgical Department, Tikur Anbessa Teaching Hospital, Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.
Subjects: A total of 49 patients; 15 male and 34 female underwent operation for obstructive jaundice.
Results: The cause of obstructive jaundice identified by ultrasonography with reasonable sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 79% for choledocholithiasis and sensitivity of 50% and specificity of 90% for pancreatic head tumours. The degree of common bile duct enlargement was significantly higher when the cause for obstruction was malignant, originating from the head of pancreas or distal end of the common bile duct.
Conclusion: Ultrasonography should be the first and best initial imaging procedure in patients who have obstructive jaundice and shows reasonable sensitivity and specificity to identify causes of obstruction in obstructive jaundice. These findings may act also as a base for which further studies on validity of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of obstructive jaundice could be carried out.