Bile duct injury: management options during and after gallbladder surgery

Proper management of iatrogenic bile duct injuries is mandatory to avoid immediate or late life threatening sequelae. Results of surgery depend mainly on the type of injury, the detection of the injury, and the timing of the surgery. Lesions detected during cholecystectomy should be repaired immediately, preferably with an end-to-side biliary anastomosis, a Roux-en-Y bilio-enteric anastomosis, or by the insertion of a T-tube. Bile duct injuries detected in the postoperative phase require a multidisciplinary approach and an algorithm for treatment of each type of lesion is proposed. In bile peritonitis with biliary obstruction and/or transection and in tight long strictures, which develop several months after cholecystectomy, a Roux-en-Y hepatico-jejunostomy is the most commonly performed operation. Other surgical techniques include a "mucosal graft" procedure and intrahepatic biliary enteric anastomoses, which may be required in difficult high-biliary lesions. Endoscopy and/or interventional radiology offer the best treatment options in bile duct leaks and in short ductal strictures that involve less than 50% of the bile duct lumen. In these injuries, surgical management should be performed only in the failure of nonsurgical methods. Because these lesions involve complicated biliary surgery, therapeutic endoscopy, and interventional radiology, treatment should be performed where there is expertise in all three areas.