Management of bile duct injuries following laparoscopic cholecystectomy: long-term outcome and risk factors infuencing biliary reconstruction

BACKGROUND

Bile duct injury following cholecystectomy remains a severe complication with major implications for the patient outcome.

AIM

To assess the outcome of surgical treatment and study the risk factor infuencing biliary reconstruction in patients with bile duct injuries following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

METHODS

Between January 2005 and December 2010, 43 patients with bile duct injuries following laparoscopic cholecystectomy were treated to our center. According to Strasberg classification, the types of injuries were as follows: type A in 7 patients (16.28%), type D in 4 (9.3%), type E1 in 9 (20.93%), type E2 in 11 (25.58%), type E3 in 10 (23.25%),and type E4 in 2 (4.65%) patients respectively. Management after referral included endoscopic sphincterotomy in patients with minor lesions (Strasberg type A) and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy in 36 patients with major duct injuries(Strasberg type D and E). 55.55% of patients with major bile duct injuries have endoscopic or surgical attempts of repair sprior to referral. In case of biliary peritonitis or acute cholangitis, the reconstruction was preceded by prolonged external biliary drainage.

RESULTS

All minor lesions were successfully treated endoscopically,with outstanding long term results. For patients with major duct injuries, the postoperative mortality and morbidity rate were 5.55% and 25%, respectively. After a median follow-up period of 34.1 (range, 12-68) months, 30 patients(88.23%) remain in good general condition (using McDonald classification) and 4 patients (11.77%) developed a late anastomotic stricture. Multivariate analyses have identified postoperative biliary leak (p=0.012) as an independent predictor factor for the occurrence of late anastomotic stricture.

CONCLUSIONS

Minor bile duct injuries can be successfully treated endoscopically if proper abdominal drainage is maintained. Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy is feasible and safe with contained morbidity and durable results even when previous surgery has failed. Postoperative biliary leak is a significant predictor for poor long term outcome.

Intestinal obstruction secondary to appendiceal mucocele

Few cases of intestinal obstruction complicating an appendiceal mucocele have been recorded. We report the case of a young woman who presented to the emergency room with diffusely abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and disruption of bowel movements. Her abdomen was mildly distended and tympanic. A flat film of the abdomen revealed dilated small bowel loops with air-fluid levels suggestive of small bowel obstruction. She also had leukocytosis. An emergency operation was performed under the diagnosis of intestinal obstruction. The intraoperatory findings showed a tumoral appendiceal mass permeated into the ileum in two distinct points, causing an enteral stenosis. We performed an appendectomy "en bloc" with two enteral loop resections of the permeated ileum followed by two T-T enteral anastomoses. The pathologic examination revealed appendiceal mucinous cystadenoma. Postoperative course was favorable, the patient being discharged on the seventh postoperative day. Postoperative checks performed at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months (including colonoscopy) have not showed pathological changes.

Perforated appendix with periappendicular abscess in a inguinal hernia sac--Amyand's hernia

Amyand's hernia is a rare form of inguinal hernia, where the appendix is included in the hernia sac. We present the emergency case of an 81-year-old patient with right inguinal pseudo-tumor, accompanied by marked local pain, nausea, low grade fever and bowel disorders. Emergency surgery is indicated due to a suspected incarcerated inguinal hernia with imminent strangulation. The intraoperatory findings reveal the presence of a periappendicular abscess as the cause of gangrenous appendicitis, perforated in the right indirect inguinal hernia sac. The practice includes the evacuation of the abscess, appendectomy and surgical cure of the inguinal hernia--Bassini's procedure, Douglas drainage and subcutaneous drainage. The postoperative outcome was favorable, the patient being discharged on the fifth postoperative day. Postoperative checks performed at 3 and 9 months have not revealed the presence of a hernia recurrence.

Thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy with cervical manual anastomosis for esophageal cancer

Evidence on the benefits of minimally invasive approach over traditional open procedure in gastrointestinal surgery is continuing to accumulate. This is also the case for esophageal surgery.Although laparoscopic esophageal surgery was initially reserved for benign pathology, the technical development, increasing experience with laparoscopic and thoracoscopic techniques and the theoretical advantages of minimally invasive surgery have widened the scope of minimally invasive approach to esophageal cancer. The surgical treatment of esophageal cancer often requires extensive procedures and is therefore, considered one of the most challenging and invasive procedure of gastrointestinal surgery. While transhiatal and transthoracic esophagectomy are common approaches for esophageal resection, data regarding the combined thoracoscopic and laparoscopic approach to esophagectomy are limited. The minimally invasive technique of esophagectomy to be described consists of three phases: thoracoscopic esophageal mobilization and mediastinal lymphadenectomy followed by laparoscopic gastric mobilization, abdominal lymphadenectomy and gastric conduit formation and finally retrieval of the resection specimen followed by an esophagogastric anastomosis via a left cervical incision.

[Risk factors for anastomotic leakage following colorectal resection for cancer]

PURPOSE

To identify the risk and prognosis factors and their predictive value for anastomotic leakage after colorectal resections following cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

1743 consecutive patients who underwent colic resections or rectal resections for colo-rectal cancer between 1996-2005 in Surgical Clinic no. 3 (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) were retrospectively analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 54 (3.09 percent) anastomotic leaks were confirmed. Univariate analisys showed that the preoperative variables significantly associated with anastomotic leakage included weight loss, smoking, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, hypoproteinemia, diabetes, anemia, leukocitosis, presence of two or more underlying diseases. Use of alcohol, cerebrovascular disease, bowel preparation, mode of antibiotic prophylaxis, type of handsewn anastomosis, tumor location, tumor stage and tumor histology were nonsignificant variables. Hipoproteniemia (S - proteins < 60g/dl) and anemia (S Hb < 11) remained significant in logistic regression model.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows that a value of S-proteins lower than 60 g/l and s-Hb lower than 99 g/l can be consider as predictive marker for anastomotik leak deshiscence.

[Laparoscopic treatment of a large trichobezoar in the stomach with gastric perforation and abdominal wall abscess]

Trichobezoar represents a mass of swallowed hair inside the stomach. Here we report a 17-year-old girl who presented in our department with symptoms of gastric ulcer. Ultrasound examination followed by upper endoscopy revealed a large trichobezoar in the stomach with simultaneous gastric perforation. Laparoscopy also revealed a penetration into the anterior abdominal wall accompanied by abscess at this level. We performed a laparoscopic gastrotomy with trichobezoar extraction and laparoscopic treatment of perforation and abdominal wall abscess. The postoperative evolution was normal and the patient was discharged on the fifth postoperative day. We show that laparoscopic approach may be safely used in the treatment of the large gastric complicated trichobezoar. Several laparoscopic approaches were described for the treatment of tricobezoar and its complications but as far as we know this is the first report of laparoscopic treatment of large tricobezoar and associate gastric perforation.

[Intrabiliary rupture of hepatic hydatid cysts: results of 17 years' experience]

Between 1990 and 2006 in the III-rd Surgical Clinic Cluj-Napoca, 366 pacients with hepatic hydatid cyst were admitted and underwent surgery; 81 (22.13%) of them, who had a cyst-biliary comunication, were retrospectively reviewed: 52 (64.2%) had an occult communications and 29 (35.8%) had a frank intrabiliary rupture. The sex ratio was M/F=46/35 with a mean age of 44.5 years and with ages between 17 and 73 years. Choledochotomy, evacuation of parasitic material and lavage of the CBP were performed in all patients with frank intrabiliary rupture. In 25 patients, partial pericystectomy and choledochoduodenostomy/T-tube drainage of CBP was performed. Internal drainage by a Roux-en-Y pericystectojejunostomy and biliodigestive anastomosis was carried out in 2 patients, while other two patients underwent external drainage of cystic cavity and T-tube drainage of CBP. 15 patients (51.7%) had postoperative external bile leaks (fistulas). Occult communications were managed by partial pericystectomy +/- narrowing of the residual cavity (capitonage with an omentum flap or invagination of the fibrosis capsule margins into the cavity) in 35 patients (67.3%) while in 10 patients (19.2%) internal drainage by a Roux-en-Y pericystectojejunostomy was carried out. Regional resection of the liver was performed in 4 cases (7.7%) and external drainage of residual cavity in 3 patients (5.7%). 13 patients (25%) had postoperative external bile leaks (fistulas). The mean postoperative hospitalisation was 20 days with the range 5-85 days. The mortality rate was 2.4% (2 patients): one died due to septicemia and MOFS and the other due to pulmonary thromboembolism.

CONCLUSION

Postoperative bile leaks (fistulas) fallowing conservative surgery of ruptured hydatid hepatic cyst into the biliary tract are not rare regardless of the type of rupture (frank or occult). Although the opening of the biliary duct is sutured, the risk of biliary fistulas is not clearly corelated with this approach; in such cases internal drainage provides a good alternative with low morbidity.

[Liver resection for benign hepatic lesion: mortality, morbidity and risk factors for postoperative complications]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the result of liver resection for benign hepatic lesion and to determine the risk factors for postoperative complication. Between January 2001 and December 2006 (6 years), a total of 50 patients with benign hepatic lesion underwent hepatic resection and were retrospectively reviewed. The sex ratio was M/F=31/19 with a mean age of 44 years (range 2-74). The diagnosis was: hydatid cyst in 24 patients (48%); hemangioma in 14 patients (28%), focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) in 6 (12%), hepatic adenoma in 3 cases (6%), and hepatoblastoma in 3 patients (6%). Fourty patients (80%) had symptoms prior to surgery (mainly abdominal pain). The abnormalities were located in 34 cases on the left liver (II-IV Couinaud segments) and in 16 cases on the right liver (V-VIII Couinaud segments). Twenty-nine patients (58%) underwent atypical resections, 4 underwent left hemihepatectomy (8%), 16 underwent left lobectomy (32%) and 1 patient was treated by segmentectomy (2%). Median operating time was 108 minutes (range 60-220) and the median blood lost was 310 ml range (30- 1500). The morbidity rate was 18% (9 patients). Independent risk factors associated with the development of postoperative complication were intraoperative blood lost more than 1200 ml (p=0,015; OR=1,7) and the operating time more than 150 minutes (p=0,048; OR=1,09). There was no mortality. The mean postoperative hospitalization was 7,86 days with the range 3-23 days.

CONCLUSION

1. Liver resections for benign hepatic lesion performed in specialized centers are safe and efficient, with low morbidity and mortality. 2. Postoperative morbidity was related to the intraoperative blood lost more than 1200 ml and to the operating time more than 150 minutes.

[Laparoscopic surgery of hepatic hydatid cyst at the 3rd Surgical Clinic, Cluj-Napoca]

In the III-rd Surgical Clinic Cluj-Napoca, during 1996-2005, there was operated laparoscopic 33 patients with hepatic hydatid cyst. The sex ratio was M10/F23, with a mean age of 34 years and with ages between 10 and 66 years. Hepatic echography was used in preoperative diagnosis. The hepatic hydatid cysts were situated in 9 cases in the left liver (II-III-IV Couinaud segments) and in 24 cases in the right liver (15 cases in the V-VI segments and 9 cases in the VII-VIII Couinaud segments). The laparoscopic treatment was performed by Lagrot pericystectomy at 31 patients and by ideal cystectomy at 2 patients. Around the cyst there were put switches impregnated with formalin 2% or hypertonic saline 20% to prevent peritoneal insemination. The cyst sterilization was done in most cases with hypertonic saline solution. The mean postoperative hospitalization was 5,6 days, with the range 1-21 days. Laparoscopic surgery with the well known advantages offers a good alternative to classic surgery in the treatment of hepatic hydatid cyst.