Table 4.

Correlation between elevated liver function tests and common bile duct stones in different subgroups of patients

	IOC	CBDS	Elevated liver test	PPV, %	NPV, %	Sens., %	Spec., %	Agr., %	+OR	−OR
Hospital
University clinic	325	62	90	44	91	64	81	78	3.39	0.44
Municipal clinic	400	44	61	38	94	52	89	85	4.89	0.53
Short-stay clinic	392	20	8	38	96	15	99	94	11.53	0.86
Operation
Emergency	172	44	72	49	91	80	71	73	2.75	0.29
Elective	945	82	87	36	94	38	94	89	5.81	0.66
ASA score
1–2	1032	109	144	40	94	52	91	87	5.56	0.53
3–5	82	15	14	57	90	53	91	84	5.92	0.51
Pancreatitis
Pancreatitis	130	26	42	31	85	50	72	68	1.79	0.69
No pancreatitis	987	100	117	45	95	53	93	89	7.36	0.51
Cholecystitis
Acute cholecystitis	130	19	35	37	94	68	80	78	3.45	0.39
No cholecystitis	794	98	116	44	93	52	91	86	5.59	0.53
All	1117	126	159	42	94	52	91	86	5.57	0.52

The table displays how well elevated bilirubin or ALP predicted CBDS in different subgroups of patients. Values are calculated from the number of patients with successful intraoperative cholangiograms in each group. A high positive odds ratio (+OR) and agreement (Agr.) signify the high predictive ability of a test. Thus, elevated liver function values predicted CBDS best among electively operated patients without a history of biliary pancreatitis or cholecystitis operated at the short-stay clinic, indicating that other mechanisms may have been responsible for elevating liver function values in acutely operated patients with a history of biliary pancreatitis or acute cholecystitis

IOC, intraoperative cholangiography; CBDS, common bile duct stones; PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value; Sens., sensitivity; Spec., specificity; Agr., agreement; +OR, positive odds ratio; −OR, negative odds ratio; ASA, American Society of Anesthesiologists; ALP, alkaline phosphatase