A minimally invasive approach to bile duct injury after blunt liver trauma in pediatric patients.

A 12-year-old boy presented with a large liver laceration after blunt abdominal trauma. He was treated nonoperatively and subsequently had bile peritonitis from a bile leak. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) visualized the bile duct injury and allowed decompression of the biliary tree with an endoscopically placed biliary stent. A drain also was placed over the laceration through a small subcostal incision. The patient recovered rapidly after this minimally invasive procedure and went home 9 days later. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.