Between January 1996 and March 2008, 44 consecutive patients were managed for RYHJ failure in our department. They presented with recurrent cholangitis in 40 patients (91 % ) and/or jaundice in 9 (20 % ). First-line treatment consisted of primary revisionary surgery in 26 cases (59 % ; repeat RYHJ in 22 and hepatectomy in 4) and a percutaneous approach in 18 cases (41 % ; biliary interventions in 16 and portal vein embolization in 2).
Postoperative mortality was nil. Postoperative morbidity was 11 % after repeat RYHJ without hepatectomy, 80 % (bile leaks) after hepatectomy, and 10 % (mild cholangitis and hemobilia) after a percutaneous approach. Delayed revisionary surgery with the intent to wait for bile duct dilation failed in all 5 patients. With a mean follow-up of 49 ¡À 40 months, second- or third-line treatment was attempted in 7 patients (16 % ). One patient (2 % ) died because of suicide. Overall clinical success defined by the absence of incapacitating biliary symptoms after treatment was achieved in 39 patients (89 % ).
An immediate, multidisciplinary approach including repeat biliary surgery and/or a percutaneous approach in a tertiary hepatobiliary center is required to obtain good, long-term results when treating the failure of RYHJ post-cholecystectomy BDI.