Postcholecystectomy biliary injuries: frequency, and role of early versus late endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM Bile duct injuries are not infrequently seen during hepatobiliary surgery, particularly after liver transplantation and cholecystectomy. The current study aims to figure out the frequency of postcholecystectomy biliary injuries (PCBI) and the role of early versus late endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in their management. PATIENTS AND METHODS Totally 960 cases operated by both laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy were evaluated in the current study. In total, 942 cases were operated in our institutes, by both laparoscopic (n = 925) and open (n = 17) cholecystectomy, and the frequency of PCBI among patients operated in our institutes was (9/942) 0.95%. Additional 18 cases of PCBI referred to our centers were included in the study. One patient was treated by repair during the surgery, in the remaining 26 patients, ERCP management was attempted. The full details of the 26 patients regarding ERCP management were discussed. RESULTS The overall success rate of ERCP management was 88.46% (23/26), whereas 11.54% of cases were treated surgically by choledochal-jejunal anastomosis due to complete common bile duct ligation. There were no differences between patients treated by early (first week) versus late (after the first week) ERCP regarding the needed interventions, type of PCBI, type and diameter of the inserted stents, and the overall success. There were no adverse events associated with ERCP management. CONCLUSIONS ERCP was valuable in the treatment of 88.46% of injured cases. There were no differences between early and late ERCP in the treatment of PCBI. Furthermore, ERCP management was not associated with adverse events.