title: [Management of patients with iatrogenic bile duct injury].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to present an analysis of 30 patients with major bile duct injuries in a single hospital centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2001 to December 2006, a prospective database was kept of all patients with a bile duct injury (BDI) following laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Patients' charts were reviewed to analyse perioperative surgical management.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over 6 years, 30 patients were treated for a major BDI. Patient demographics were not notable for 16 women (53%) and 14 men (47%) with a mean age of 58.9 years. Twenty of them sustained their BDI at another hospital. The mean interval from the time of BDI to referral was 17.4 days. A total of 30 patients underwent definitive biliary reconstruction, including 17 hepaticojejunostomies (56.7%), 8 end-to-end repairs (20%), 2 choledochoduodenostomies (6.7%), 3 liver transplantations (10%), 1 hepatectomy and 1 Whipple (3.3%). There were 2 deaths in the postoperative period (6.7%). Thirteen (43.3%) sustained at least 1 postoperative complication. The most common complications were cholangitis (20%), and intra-abdominal abscess/biloma (23.3%). The mean postoperative length of stay was 17.46 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bile duct injury is a serious complication that affects mostly individuals with benign disease. Various subsequent procedures (surgical and/or endoscopic) are almost always necessary for its correction, with a high socioeconomic cost that imposes great suffering on the patients and their relatives. Clearly, all efforts should be made to prevent such accidents.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Trasplante Abdominal, Servicio de Cirugía General, Hospital Clínico Universitario, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain. fran.padroso@gmail.com
authors.forename: Francisco Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: González Rodríguez
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bustamante Montalvo
authors.forename: Rogelio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Conde Freire
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Faustino
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Segade
authors.forename: Evaristo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Varo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001652:Bile Ducts / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies