The extrahepatic biliary tract injury: perspective in diagnosis and treatment.

Nonsurgical trauma to the extrahepatic biliary tract is being reported with increasing frequency. There has been no recent review of the management of these injuries. Forty patients over the past twelve years at Charity Hospital, New Orleans, were studied. The 10% mortality rate was due to associated injuries. Tangential injuries were best managed by suture closure and T-tube drainage. Biliary-enteric anastomoses were most successful in the treatment of complete transections. Delayed diagnosis is not uncommon, and new methods of diagnosis are discussed. Injuries of this nature are responsible for high morbidity rates due to fistula or stricture formation. Successful management of these injuries is vital, even in those patients with more severe associated injuries.