Results of Heineke-Mikulicz type choledochoplasty in benign biliary strictures

During a 20-year period from 1970 to 1991, a total of 30,800 patients underwent biliary tract surgery at the Department of Surgery, University of Chile Clinical Hospital. Of these, seven female adults with a mean age of 39.7 years (range 29 to 54) were considered for analysis in this study. The results of the Heineke-Mikulicz type choledochoplasty repair in patients with short localized strictures of the biliary tract were analyzed in these patients. In six cases, the repair was performed at a mean time of 20 months after cholecystectomy and accidental injury of the common bile duct; in one case it was carried out during cholecystectomy and repair of a Mirizzi type II cholecysto-hepatic fistula. This patient remained asymptomatic during a follow-up of 120 months. Of the six cases on whom choledochoplasty was performed as treatment of short strictures, five patients (83%) developed a new stricture at a mean time of 14 months after surgery; a hepatico-jejunostomy was performed in all. After this procedure, only one patient was re-operated again, and all remained asymptomatic long after surgery. We believe that this Heineke-Mikulicz type choledochoplasty, which has been recommended in short distal strictures, is not advisable as a definitive surgical repair for this kind of stricture.