Common bile duct

Bile, which is synthesized in the liver, is carried to the right and left hepatic ducts, which converge along with the Cystic duct to form the common hepatic duct. There it enters the superior end of the common bile duct and either empties into the second (and retroperitoneal) part of the duodenum, or enters the cystic duct to be stored in the gallbladder.

The inferior end of the common bile duct merges with the large pancreatic duct (duct of Wirsung) from the pancreas, into the ampulla of Vater. There, the two ducts are surrounded by the muscular hepatopancreatic sphincter (sphincter of Oddi) which if contracted, prevents bile from entering the small intestine.

Additional images

External links

• - "The gallbladder and extrahepatic bile ducts."
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