Intraperitoneal bile collections after laparoscopic cholecystectomy - Causes, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment

Background: Bile leakage is more common after laparoscopic cholecystectomy than after open surgery. In our department, the rate of postoperative bile collections after open surgery is 0.2% vs 0.6% after laparoscopic cholecyst ectomy. Methods: We studied 13 cases of intraperitoneal bile collection without com mon bile duct damage drawn from a total of 5,200 laparoscopic cholecystecto mies (0.23%). Clinical presentation, symptoms, method of diagnosis, causes, time of diagnosis, correlation of time of diagnosis with definitive treatm ent, and postoperative results were analyzed. Results: The symptoms appeared between the 5th and 8th postoperative days. They were observed in patients with either chronic or acute cholecystitis. The main causes were misapplication of clips at the cystic duct and open Lu schka's duct. Ultrasound failed for early recognition of bile collections. The definitive diagnosis was made by repeat ultrasonography, CAT scan, and ERCP. Conclusion: The ideal treatment in these cases is a minimally invasive proc edure, but since the diagnosis is frequently delayed, open surgery is perfo rmed in the majority of patients. However, there were no mortalities in thi s group of patients.