Hemobilia as a complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Laparoscopic surgery, mainly laparoscopic cholecystectomy, is a recently developed surgical procedure that has rapidly gained acceptance. Its complications remain to be critically analyzed. In this initial series of 69 patients, the rate of complications was 4.3%, and the conversion to open rate was 8.7%. A late complication occurring 4 months after surgery is presented. Upper gastrointestinal bleeding from hemobilia resulted from a cystic artery aneurysm communication with the cystic duct. This study stresses the importance of careful management of biliary structures to avoid the possibility of late and severe complications that can result from using this new surgical procedure.