Retroportal hepaticojejunostomy for extended resection of hilar bile ducts

High hepatic duct resection sometimes is unavoidable in achieving curative resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, as tumor cells can extend further than expected along the bile ducts from the macroscopically evident cancer. In patients undergoing left hemihepatectomy with caudate lobectomy whose bile duct must be severed at the subsegmental bile duct levels, the orifices of the posterior bile ducts would lie behind the right portal vein. Conventional hepaticojejunostomy would be risky in such cases because an anastomosis performed in the usual manner would be subjected to strain. Instead, between 2002 and 2004, three patients underwent retroportal hepaticojejunostomy using a jejunal limb mobilized and positioned behind the hepatoduodenal ligament. Primary tumors were classified as type IV in the Bismuth-Corlette classification. Tension-free hepaticojejunal anastomosis was performed successfully in all three patients; insufficiency of the hepaticojejunostomy did not develop. Neither early nor late complications directly related to this method occurred. Retroportal hepaticojejunostomy, thus, permits more peripheral resection of the hepatic duct while providing a sufficient operative field for safe, tension-free anastomosis. This technique is very useful for patients undergoing left hemihepatectomy requiring high hilar resection of the bile duct.