[Surgical tactics in cholangitis in middle-aged and elderly patients]

The authors analysed the results of examination and treatment of 399 elderly and old-aged patients in the period between 1971 and 1981. At that time cholangitis was managed in 146 (36.6%) patients mainly by surgical intracavitary operations, in 21.2% with a fatal outcome. The results showed the high risk of surgical methods for treatment of cholangitis. Since 1982 the authors have introduced into every-day practice endoscopic methods for the management of this disease. It was found that endoscopic papillosphincterotomy (EPST) is the most physiological and safe method for the treatment of choledocholithiasis, stenosis of the major duodenal papilla, and acute cholangitis. EPST undertaken in 253 (63.4%) patients ensured adequate decompression of the bile ducts in 187 (73.9%) of them and facilitated removal of cholangitis and recovery. With the use of EPST in the treatment of acute cholangitis not only was the number of surgical operations on patients of the older age group reduced, but the mortality decreased to 5.5% (which was 3.9 times lower than the mortality in management of cholangitis by surgical operations).