title: Post-traumatic bile fistulae.
abstract: Bile leakage after liver injury has been reported to be a complication associated with significant mortality. In a prospective study of 306 patients with liver injuries 13 (4%) developed a bile leak. There appear to be two groups of patients, those with a major bile duct injury (three patients) and those with a more peripheral injury (ten patients). Bile leaks may present either as bile peritonitis (six patients) or as a bile leak through a drain site (seven patients). All but one bile leak closed spontaneously at a median of 33 days (range, 3-110 days). There was no mortality but patients incurred a median of four complications each (range, 1-5). This may reflect the severity of the initial injury rather than the bile leak. Respiratory failure and/or infection and sepsis were the most common complications whilst abnormalities of liver function, although common, were seldom of clinical significance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hollands
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Little
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001658:Biliary Fistula / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery