ESMO Patients Guide
What is the biliary tract? The biliary tract is part of the digestive system and includes the gallbladder and bile ducts. The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped pouch in the upper abdomen that stores bile, which is made in the liver. Bile is a fluid that helps to digest food, and the gallbladder releases it when we eat. Bile ducts are tubes that carry bile from the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine. The right and left hepatic ducts begin in the liver and join outside the liver to form the common hepatic duct. This then joins with the cystic duct (from the gallbladder) to form the common bile duct, which passes behind the pancreas and joins with the pancreatic duct at the ampulla of Vater before opening into the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine).
Anatomy of the abdomen showing the position of the biliary ducts and gallbladder in green.
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