title: Subvesical bile duct injury: an often missed cause of postcholecystectomy bile leak.
abstract: We report a case of postoperative bile leak originating from subvesical bile ducts. This anatomic variant of the bile duct is widely prevalent, often undiagnosed, and usually uncovered in the setting of iatrogenic biliary injury. Injury to these ducts during gallbladder surgery can be potentially averted by minimizing dissection into the hepatic parenchyma. Because of their small size, leaks originating from these ducts have good prognosis and almost never require surgical intervention. Preoperative knowledge of this uncommon variant may improve surgical technique aimed at avoiding biliary injury during cholecystectomy.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, USA. smajumder@resident.uchc.edu
authors.forename: Shounak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Majumder
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Habibi
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Garcia
mesh_terms: D001646:Bile; D001652:Bile Ducts / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000293:injuries*; D002760:Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology