Bile Duct Leak After Liver Surgery

A small hole or tear in the bile duct may cause bile to leak into the abdomen causing pain inflammation and infection in the abdominal cavity.

Bile duct leak after liver surgery.

Bile leaks that may result from cholecystectomy have been described by mckenzie and by foster and wayson and are caused by a slipped cystic duct ligature or a leak from an accessory or anomalous bile duct. If a bile duct is damaged during surgery bile may leak into the abdominal cavity causing extreme pain. In addition the digestive process suffers because the proper amounts of bile are not being delivered to break down fats that are consumed. A bile duct leak can arise either as a complication of a surgery such as gallbladder removal or liver transplant or from trauma to the biliary system.

Injury to bile duct and the biliary system as a whole can also give rise to bile leak. Bile leakage is defined as fluid with an increased bilirubin concentration in the abdominal drain after postoperative day 3 or as the need for radiologic intervention. At the bile duct and pancreatic diseases program part of the university of michigan s division of gastroenterology our multidisciplinary team provides the newest minimally invasive treatments for bile duct leaks. In this study we reviewed the bile leakage according to the isgls definition and grading table 1 not our previous institutional criteria.

Leakage in bile duct can occur as a result of postoperative complication after removal of gall bladder or after liver transplantation. Bile leaks are often corrected by placing a stent narrow tube in the duct to keep bile from escaping while the duct heals.