Treatment of acute cholangitis with hepatolithiasis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the treatment of recurrent acute cholangitis with hepatolithiasis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients with recurrent acute cholangitis who were treated in Peking Union Medical College Hospitals emergency department from January 1998 to December 2008. RESULTS: Totally 408 patients underwent surgery, of which 167 patients received emergency operations and 241 underwent selective operations after medication and interventional treatment. The incidence of complications was 6.4% among those who received emergency operations and 3.2% among selective operations. The 30-day mortality rate of selective operations was zero. CONCLUSION: Along with the progress of percutaneous cholangiographic drainage and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, selective operations have been increasingly applied for acute cholangitis with notably low complications and postoperative death.