Current management of benign bile duct strictures

Abstract

Benign bile duct strictures remain one of the most difficult problems encountered by the hepatobiliary surgeon. The vast majority of bile duct strictures occur as a complication of cholecystectomy. The patients may present early in the postoperative period with evidence of a biliary leak or months to years later with the development of jaundice or cholangitis. The essential first step of management consists of delineation of the proximal biliary anatomy. Current management techniques include either operative biliary reconstruction or nonoperative balloon dilatation by either the percutaneous transhepatic or endoscopic routes. The best form of surgical reconstruction of the biliary tree is a biliary-enteric anastomosis from the proximal bile duct to a Roux-en-Y limb of jejunum. In these cases, we favor the use of long-term postoperative biliary stenting using Silastic stents. Recent retrospective, nonrandomized results from our institution favor this surgical technique over nonoperative dilatation. Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a rare cause of biliary strictures. The etiology of sclerosing is unknown, but its association with ulcerative colitis and other diseases suggest an autoimmune condition. The diagnosis is confirmed by typical cholangiographic findings of multiple areas of stricture and dilatation. No medical management has proven to be successful. Surgical management for symptomatic patients includes resection of the hepatic bifurcation with long-term transhepatic stenting of the biliary tree for patients with primarily extrahepatic and/or hilar disease and with no evidence of cirrhosis. In patients with primarily intrahepatic strictures or advanced cirrhosis, liver transplantation is the treatment of choice. Benign strictures due to other causes, such as chronic pancreatitis, calculous biliary disease, sphincter of Oddi stenosis, duodenal Crohn's disease, peptic ulcer, or perivaterian duodenal diverticula usually can be managed by choledochoduodenostomy or choledochojejunostomy without long-term stenting. The management of other rare benign biliary strictures is dependent upon their extent and underlying etiology.