A nonoperative examination of the function of the sphincter of Oddi, involving percutaneous transhepatic manometry via the percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage tract, was developed and clinically applied in 23 patients with biliary disease. Long-term recording of sphincter of Oddi motility, which was impossible using conventional intraoperative or endoscopic manometry, was made possible by means of this method and revealed various changes of sphincter of Oddi motility. The mean recording time was 131.33 +/- 9.77 min. The frequency of contractions of the sphincter of Oddi in basal fasting conditions varied from 0 to 13/min and high-frequency contractions (frequency 9.49 +/- 0.35/min, duration 5.77 +/- 0.54 min) were observed in 12 patients on a total of 19 occasions. In five patients, high-frequency contractions were observed twice during one session of continuous recording and the interval between burst contractions was 85.4 +/- 13.3 min. Long-term continuous recording is advantageous for the evaluation of the function of the sphincter of Oddi and short-term manometry may not be representative of overall sphincter of Oddi motility.