The vast majority of bile duct injuries is iatrogenic and occurs during abdominal surgeries or other interventions such as endoscopic or percutaneous cannulation of the biliary tree. Accidental traumas are responsible only for 1–5% of the total number of biliary injuries. The diagnosis of non-iatrogenic traumatic bile duct injuries is challenging as current cross-sectional imaging tests are not very specific. Therefore, most of the patients are diagnosed when they undergo early explorative laparotomy or when they develop late complications. Among all patients who experience traumatic bile duct injuries, 80–90% are victims of penetrating traumas from stab or gunshot wounds. On the other hand, bile duct lesions due to blunt traumas are predominantly caused by traffic accidents (compression by safety belt or airbag), falls, kicks, or work accidents. Iatrogenic bile duct injuries have been extensively covered in many other papers. In this chapter, we will focus our attention only on traumatic bile duct injuries.
Part of the book: Actual Problems of Emergency Abdominal Surgery