[A case study of post-traumatic common bile duct injury: an unusual lesion]

Traumatic injury of the common bile duct is extremely rare, especially when it is isolated. It usually occurs after laparoscopic biliary tract surgery. This lesion is often associated with one or multiple lesions of the neighborhood organs. We report a case of isolated injury of the common bile duct following abdominal trauma in a 5-year old child treated in our Department at the Mother-Child Hospital in Nouakchott. Radiological exploration didn't provide a conclusive diagnosis. Exploratory laparoscopy was performed because surgery had revealed diffuse biliary peritonitis secondary to a lesion at the bottom of the common bile duct. Emergency treatment was based on lavage with external biliary drainage followed, after a month, by bilio-digestive anastomosis. Life-threatening complication of common bile duct injuries is biliary peritonitis. In the literature, early postoperative morbidity is 20-30% while mortality rate is 0-2%. Isolated traumatic injury of the common bile duct in children is a lesion whose clinical course and therapy should be known in order to decrease morbi-mortality. Treatment is based on a multidisciplinary approach involving the pediatric surgeon, the radiologist and the resuscitating anaesthesiologist.