[Choledochal cysts: surgical treatment]

The excision of the choledochal cyst with bile drainage through intestinal conduit is a standard operative procedure in the surgical management of choledochal cysts. During the last eight years five patients have been treated with this operation at the University Children's Hospital in Zagreb. All the patients were girls aged from two months to twelve years. The classical triad of pain, jaundice and abdominal mass was observed in only one patient, an eight-year-old girl. The only symptom in infancy was jaundice. Diagnosis was made by abdominal ultrasound, bibliography, CT scan with hepatotropic contrast and in older children by ERCP. Four cysts were type Todani I, and one cyst was Todani type II. The complete excision of the choledochal cyst with the Roux-Y jejunal conduit without antireflux valve was performed. There was neither operative morbidity nor mortality. Three months postoperatively the control ultrasonography and liver laboratory tests were without abnormalities. The routine control which followed did not show episodes of cholangitis, lithiasis, lipid malabsorption, blood clotting abnormalities or growth failure. The complete excision of the cyst with Roux-Y hepaticoenterostomy is an operative treatment with good results in infancy and childhood.