Unsuccessful endoscopic stenting in iatrogenic bile duct injury: remember rendezvous procedure

Patients with iatrogenic bile duct injury often require a variety of interventions that may range from endoscopic procedures to complex open surgery. Injuries involving both stricture and leakage, in particular, are a clinical challenge as early measures are mandatory because of leakage. However, early open surgery is often hazardous in these cases because of ongoing infection at the point of injury and around it caused by the leakage. Therefore, these patients should be treated endoscopically and percutaneously as long as possible, although iatrogenic, often narrow stricture hampers these efforts. In the present paper, the clinical value of a rendezvous technique is emphasized. This technique improves the success rate for endoscopic stenting in iatrogenic bile duct injuries. In the literature, there are no earlier reports on biliary rendezvous procedures in patients with bile duct injuries.