Guideline for the prevention and management of bile duct injury (2008 edition)

Bile duct injury is an important clinical problem associated with significantly high perioperative morbidity and mortality, reduced long-term survival and poor quality of life, as well as high rate of malpractice litigation following iatrogenic causes. The management of bile duct injury remains a considerable challenge for even the most skilled hepatobiliary surgeons. Based on this situation, the Biliary Surgery Group of Surgery Branch of Chinese Medical Association compiled the Guideline for the prevention and management of bile duct injury. The guideline systematically explains the concept, causes, classification, diagnosis and treatment of bile duct injury. Three categories of bile duct injury, including intrahepatic bile duct injury, extrahepatic bile duct injury and bile duct injury in the pancreaticoduodenal region are proposed according to the anatomical site, causes, pathological characters, prevention and treatment of bile duct injury. Four types and 4 subtypes of the extrahepatic bile duct injury are classified according to the anatomical plane of the injured bile duct and the pathological character of the main bile duct, respectively. Key words: Bile duct injury;  Prevention; Management;  Guideline