[Iatrogenic damage of the bile ducts caused by cholecystectomy. Treatment and results]

This report concerns 44 patients with iatrogenic injuries to the bile ducts treated at the Mannheim University Clinic from 1973 to 1987. Group A: 12 own patients with lesions of the common bile duct among 6020 operations for cholelithiasis, i.e. a risk of 0.19%. All 12 lesions were recognized during operation and immediately repaired with eventual success. Group B: 32 patients referred to us from another hospital after cholecystectomy alone or previous repair. 11 of these patients had progressive jaundice in the immediate postoperative period (1. to 9. week) due to unrecognized bile duct injury. The other 21 patients developed strictures after an uneventful postoperative course within time intervals varying from 3 months to 23 years. 72% of patients (Group B) had reconstructive surgery within two years after last operation in another hospital. We performed 47 reconstructive operations in 42 patients without hospital mortality including 5 second or third operations for recurrent stricture. Biliary-intestinal anastomosis (70%) as sutured mucosa-to-mucosa anastomosis was the most favoured method of reconstruction (30 Roux-Y hepaticojejunostomies and 3 choledochoduodenostomies). An end-to-end anastomosis was only performed in 3 cases of plain transection of the common duct. In management of high biliary strictures (type III and IV according to Bismuth's classification) preference would be given to Hepp-Couinaud's modification of hepaticojejunostomy using the left hepatic duct for a long side-to-side anastomosis. Overall morbidity amounted to 28% while the rate of relaparotomy for surgical complications was 13% (n = 6 without postoperative death). 10 patients died since reconstructive surgery, death being independent from bile duct injury in 5 cases. The injury related one-year-mortality was 4.5%. Overall stricture recurrence rate was 15% (18% for hepaticojejunostomy) with a mean follow-up of 72 months. Local infection was the most obvious cause of recurrence, thus a two stage procedure with postponement of reconstructive surgery must be recommended in case of subhepatic abscess or biliary fistula. Including second and third repairs, a good longterm result was achieved in over 80% of patients.