The critical view of safety in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: towards a national consensus.

Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC) is one of the commonest operations performed by surgeons today. Despite the decreasing incidence of bile duct injury (BDI) since the introduction of LC, it still remains a major complication today¹. The commonest cause of BDI is misidentification of the anatomy of Calot's Triangle. A technique of identification of this anatomy, called the critical view of safety (CVS), was first described by Strasberg et al. in the mid-nineties and has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of BDI^1-3. Despite its success, it has failed to gain universal acceptance and the infundibular approach to dissection is still being taught today.