Primary closure of common bile duct after open choledochotomy

ABSTRACT

To assess the outcome of primary closure of common bile duct after open choledochotomy. Descriptive case series. Department of surgery, unit II, III and VI, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi from June 2005 to May 2009. Clinical records of all the patients who underwent bile duct exploration followed by primary closure were reviewed. Main outcome measures were operating time, duration of hospital stay and postoperative complication; including bile leakage, subphrenic abscess, biliary peritonitis and postoperative jaundice. The SPSS version 11 was applied to the data for analysis. A total of 38 patients were found from clinical records having male to female ratio of 16.6. Mean [ +/- SD] operating time was 95 [ +/- 7] minutes. The overall complication rate was 10.52%. Bile leak was encountered in three [7.89%] patients whereas small subphrenic collection was noticed in one [2.63%] patient who was treated conservatively. None of the patients experienced postoperative jaundice and biliary peritonitis. Mean [ +/- SD] duration of hospital stay was 7.63 [ +/- 1.63] days. Primary repair of common bile duct after open choledochotomy is safe and associated with low complication rate