Post-cholecystectomy Major Bile Duct Injury

Plain-language summary

Bile duct injury (BDI) is one of the devastating recognized complications of cholecystectomy which does not respect the seniority or experience of the surgeon. It has a disastrous impact on long-term survival, health-related quality of life, and healthcare costs as well as high rates of litigation. The incidence of BDI increased with the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) with an incidence of around 0.3-1.5%. The initial aim of BDI is to manage abdominal and biliary sepsis and to transform an acute BDI into a controlled external biliary fistula. The surgical treatment of postcholecystectomy BDI success depends on many factors as the severity of the injury, the centers and surgeon's experiences, the patient's condition, and the reconstruction time. The optimal time for the reconstruction and the patient's condition remains an active topic of interest and debate. Many papers discussed their impact on the short and long-term outcomes with different conflicting results from different institutions. Based on the previous data and the absence of guidelines that recommend the timing of BDI reconstruction, the decision for the timing of reconstruction should be based on the predicted success of the operation, costs, and patient quality of life. If comparable morbidity and mortality outcomes can be obtained, patient quality of life and effective use of healthcare resources should be taken into consideration. We hypothesized that inadequate sepsis control and BDI reconstruction can be done safely at any time of presentation. Our study aimed to present our experience in the management of major post-cholecystectomy BDI with HJ and analyze the impact of both the reconstruction time and the control of sepsis on the BDI reconstruction success rate. By analyzing the results of these three treatment strategies, we can better understand the factors that affect reconstruction success, costs, and health-related quality of life associated with BDI and subsequent repair.

Who can participate

What they're measuring

Trial details