Page 5 - SONO 260 CHAPTER 4 THE BILE DUCTS

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
▪ When the gallbladder is stimulated by cholecystokinin (produced by the small intestine), it contracts and empties bile into the biliary tree at the level of the proximal common bile duct.
▪ Bile travels through the common bile duct toward the duodenum, where it meets the pancreatic duct at the ampulla of Vater or hepatopancreatic ampulla.
▪ The sphincter of Oddi or the hepatopancreatic sphincter is the opening that allows bile and pancreatic juices to flow into the duodenum.