[Surgery and interventional techniques in biliary tract diseases. Combined procedure or concurrent procedure?]

Bile duct stones, benign lesions of the bile duct, and malignant stenoses are principal entities requiring an interdisciplinary approach to diagnosis and treatment. There are unequivocal indications for surgical and interventional approaches. In many situations sparse data do not allow for clear-cut recommendations, which leads to a competition of surgical and interventional modes of treatment. In cholecystocholedocholithiasis, therapeutic splitting--endoscopic stone extraction and laparoscopic cholecystectomy--is at present the preferred strategy. The laparoscopic approach, including common bile duct exploration, may prove advantageous in the future. Emergency situations caused by choledocholithiasis--purulent cholangitis and biliary pancreatitis--require interventional treatment. For bile duct injuries with biliary leakage and treatment of short strictures, transpapillary or transhepatic prostheses may be adequate. In extended strictures or bile duct defects, surgical repair is required. In malignant stenoses, surgical treatment provides the longest survival. If operability is excluded, an interventional approach offers substantial palliation. The results of the different forms of stents and prostheses are comparable.