# What is the bile duct?

The bile duct is called the common bile duct. Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as a short tube that carries bile to the duodenum.

## What it means

- A short tube that carries bile to the duodenum.
- Formed by the union of the hepatic duct (from the liver) and the cystic duct (from the gallbladder).
- Joins the pancreatic duct just before entering the duodenum.

## Action steps

1. In the upper right of the abdomen.
2. Runs behind the first part of the duodenum and through the head of the pancreas.
3. Opens into the duodenum at the major duodenal papilla.

## Sources

- [Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body (1918)](https://www.bartleby.com/107/)

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