title: T-tube bridging for the management of biliary tree injuries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Injuries of the biliary tree, which mainly occur as a complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, are a potentially life threatening cause of high morbidity and mortality. The reported frequency of biliary injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is from 0.5-0.8%. Such injuries may sometimes become too complicated for surgical repair. Presented here is the case of a patient with a major bile duct injury for whom bile duct continuity was achieved using a T-tube.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 53-year-old man, who developed bile duct injury following a laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed in another center for cholelithiasis, was referred to our clinic. A Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy was performed in the early postoperative period. However, ensuing anastomotic leakage prompted undoing of the hepaticojejunostomy followed by placement of a T-tube by which bile duct continuity was achieved.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For injuries with tissue loss requiring external drainage, T-tube bridging offers a feasible option in that it provides bile duct continuity with biliary flow into the duodenum, as well as achieving external drainage, thus alleviating the need for further definitive surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aydemir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olmez
authors.forename: Sinan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatipoglu
authors.forename: Veyis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Itik
authors.forename: Cetin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kotan
keywords: T-tube bridging; external and internal biliary drainage; iatrogenic bile duct injury