Right hepatic artery injury associated with laparoscopic bile duct injury: incidence, mechanism, and consequences.

Because most bile duct injuries involve the common hepatic duct, the right hepatic artery, which is nearby, can also be injured. Reports on the frequency and significance of right hepatic artery injury (RHAI) associated with bile duct injury are sparse but suggest that RHAI increases mortality and decreases the success of the biliary repair. We studied the incidence, mechanism, and consequences of RHAI accompanying major bile duct injury. A total of 261 laparoscopic bile duct injuries were analyzed. Distribution was as follows: class I, 6%; class II, 22%; class III, 61%; and class IV, 11%. RHAI was present in 84 cases (32%): class I, 6%; class II, 17%; class III, 35% (P < 0.04 vs. class I/II); and class IV, 64% (P < 0.007 vs. class I/II/III). RHAI was more commonly associated with abscess, bleeding, hemobilia, right hepatic lobe ischemia, and subsequent hepatectomy (54% with RHAI vs. 11% without RHAI; P < 0.0001). RHAI had no influence on the success of the bile duct injury repair or on the mortality rate. Complications occurred more often with RHAI among cases repaired by the primary surgeon (41% RHAI vs. 2% no RHAI; P < 0.0001) but not among repairs by a biliary surgeon (3% RHAI vs. 2% no RHAI, P=NS; P < 0.0001 primary vs. biliary surgeon). RHAI increased morbidity, and occurred more often with class III and IV injuries reflecting the mechanisms of these injuries. RHAI did not increase the mortality rate or alter the success of biliary repair. Among biliary injuries repaired by the primary surgeon, RHAI was associated with a higher incidence of postoperative abscess, bleeding, hemobilia, hepatic ischemia, and the need for hepatic resection. A similar increase in the complication rate was not seen in patients treated by a biliary specialist.

Causes and prevention of laparoscopic bile duct injuries: analysis of 252 cases from a human factors and cognitive psychology perspective.

OBJECTIVE: To apply human performance concepts in an attempt to understand the causes of and prevent laparoscopic bile duct injury. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Powerful conceptual advances have been made in understanding the nature and limits of human performance. Applying these findings in high-risk activities, such as commercial aviation, has allowed the work environment to be restructured to substantially reduce human error. METHODS: The authors analyzed 252 laparoscopic bile duct injuries according to the principles of the cognitive science of visual perception, judgment, and human error. The injury distribution was class I, 7%; class II, 22%; class III, 61%; and class IV, 10%. The data included operative radiographs, clinical records, and 22 videotapes of original operations. RESULTS: The primary cause of error in 97% of cases was a visual perceptual illusion. Faults in technical skill were present in only 3% of injuries. Knowledge and judgment errors were contributory but not primary. Sixty-four injuries (25%) were recognized at the index operation; the surgeon identified the problem early enough to limit the injury in only 15 (6%). In class III injuries the common duct, erroneously believed to be the cystic duct, was deliberately cut. This stemmed from an illusion of object form due to a specific uncommon configuration of the structures and the heuristic nature (unconscious assumptions) of human visual perception. The videotapes showed the persuasiveness of the illusion, and many operative reports described the operation as routine. Class II injuries resulted from a dissection too close to the common hepatic duct. Fundamentally an illusion, it was contributed to in some instances by working too deep in the triangle of Calot. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that errors leading to laparoscopic bile duct injuries stem principally from misperception, not errors of skill, knowledge, or judgment. The misperception was so compelling that in most cases the surgeon did not recognize a problem. Even when irregularities were identified, corrective feedback did not occur, which is characteristic of human thinking under firmly held assumptions. These findings illustrate the complexity of human error in surgery while simultaneously providing insights. They demonstrate that automatically attributing technical complications to behavioral factors that rely on the assumption of control is likely to be wrong. Finally, this study shows that there are only a few points within laparoscopic cholecystectomy where the complication-causing errors occur, which suggests that focused training to heighten vigilance might be able to decrease the incidence of bile duct injury.