Impact of concomitant arterial injury on the outcome of laparoscopic bile duct injury

BACKGROUND: Concomitant injury to the bile duct and hepatic artery is an increasingly recognized complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). The impact of a concomitant arterial injury in patients with a bile duct injury (BDI) remains debatable. Early reports described a high incidence of septic complications, difficulty of biliary repair, and increased the risk of recurrent stricture. DATA SOURCES: A literature search on the clinical significance and management of a concomitant hepatic artery injury (HAI) to the outcome of biliary-enteric reconstruction following BDI was reviewed. Relevant articles were extracted through MEDLINE, with secondary references obtained from key articles. CONCLUSIONS: The association between failure of biliary repair and concomitant arterial injuries is not confirmed by the largest studies, which showed no difference in anastomotic stricture rate between patients who had an isolated BDI and those who had a combined HAT and BDI. However, right arterial injury associated with liver necrosis or damage to the right hepatic duct may require right hepatectomy. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.