Acute renal failure in obstructive diseases of the extrahepatic biliary ducts

A series of 46 patients with obstructive disease of the bile ducts complicated by acute renal failure (ARF) is presented. The patients exhibited obstructive jaundice with prevalence of conjugated bilirubine. In 80% of the cases biliary obstruction was associated with cholangitis. Disturbances of the liver function (from mild cholestasis to biliary cirrhosis) were also present. The renal damage was due to biliary disorders and was either present on admission (33 cases) or developed postoperatively (13 cases). Most of the patients presented nonoliguric ARF as well as poor perfusion resulting from decreased circulating blood volume (dehydration and electrolyte loss). Among the criteria used to determine the type of ARF, the urinary/plasma creatinine ratio less than 10 and urinary/plasma osmolarity ratio less than 1.1 were the most valuable. Management of ARF by dialysis alone was not satisfactory. Attention is called to the surgical treatment of the biliary disorder as being essential to prognosis. Patients not treated by radical surgery died in proportion of 87 to 100%. From the rest of 18 patients in whom the operation provided an adequate biliary drainage, in 15 the renal function was restored and 12 survived. Better prognosis in these patients was dependent not only on the ability to cure the cholestasis and infection, but on the early surgical treatment. The ultimate prognosis depends on the improvement of the liver function.