Diagnosis and management of bile duct strictures

In the majority of patients, strictures of the common bile duct result from an injury to the duct. The earlier the injury is repaired or the more quickly the diagnosis of stricture is made and repaired, with antibiotics to prevent infection, the better are the results of the repair. Five types of repair have been utilized: (1) choledochoduodenostomy, (2) duct-to-duct repair, (3) choledochojejunostomy, (4) plastic revision of the stricture, or (5) dilatation of a previous stricture when multiple, previous operative procedures or the difficulty of operative exposure proves too great for adequate repair. Our overall results after repair of biliary stricture are good or excellent in 84 per cent of patients. We have had the best results in patients in whom choledochoduodenostomy was performed.