Bile transport
Bile, produced by the hepatocytes, flows through the bile canaliculi to the hepatic duct branches in the portal triads. The hepatic ducts converge and empty into the right and left hepatic ducts, which transport bile out of the liver. The right and left hepatic ducts unite to form a single common hepatic duct is joined by the cystic duct from the gallbladder to form the common bile duct. The gallbladder is a small sac on the inferior surface of the liver that stores and concentrates bile. The common bile duct joins the pancreatic duct at the hepatopancreatic ampulla, an enlargement where the hepatic and pancreatic ducts come together. The hepatopancreatic ampulla empties into the duodenum at the major duodenal papilla. Smooth muscle sphincters surround the common bile duct, hepatopancreatic ampolla, and pancreatic duct.