Innovative technique of corking the lumen of an intraoperatively decompressed turgid gall bladder with surgical gauze to prevent gall bladder stone/bile spillage during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Technical difficulties are often encountered in a laparoscopic cholecystectomy where a tense/distended/ turgid gall bladder prevents the surgeon from grasping the gall bladder properly which therefore necessitates the decompression of the turgid gall bladder. However, even if intraoperative decompression is done, the spillage of remnant stones, bile or fluid from the gall bladder is a possibility which can lead to undue complications. This is where following the simple technique of using a gauze piece with a radio-opaque marker to occlude the decompression puncture site helps in performing a safe decompression thereby preventing bile, fluid or stone spillage.