[Hemobilia. (Apropos of 5 cases)]

Hemobilia or hemorrhage through the biliary tract is increasing in frequency. With spreading knowledge of the syndrome, the diagnosis is now rarely missed. There is also a real increase due to traffic accidents which often cause liver injuries. The typical triade with digestive hemorrhage, biliary colic and jaundice should always arouse suspicion of hemobilia. Hepatic angiography is the best and most accurate diagnostic method. Accidental or operative trauma constitute the major cause of macroscopic hemobilia where as microscopic hemobilia is a very frequent symptom in gallstone-disease. In this report five cases of different ethiology are described. Three were caused by abdominal trauma. The fourth case illustrates the risk of hemobilia from instrumental exploration of the common duct. Even when this is done carefully it might cause a hemorrhage with formation of obstructing clots. In the last patient there was severe hemobilia due to errosion of the cystic artery by a gallstone, penetrating into the duodenum. The treatment given in the five cases are examples of different methods which may be used, according to the nature of the lesion. In the three cases of traumatic hemobilia one healed spontaneously under angiographic control, one was cured by local hemostasis in the central liver rupture and the third had a successful hepatic resection. In the case with post-operative hemobilia, an obstructing clot had to be removed from the common duct. Simple cholecystectomy cured the patient with hemorrhage from the eroded cystic artery.