Can you sue for bile duct injury?
The answer is almost certainly yes. But injury from cutting the common bile duct is often the result of medical malpractice. As any malpractice lawyer will tell you, it is the same surgeons who are “frequent flyers” in malpractice claims involving common bile duct injuries.
Which is the most common type of bile duct injury?
Class III injuries are the most common type, occurring in 60% of cases. Subdivision class IIIa injuries have a remnant of common hepatic duct, while class IIIb involves transection at the junction of the cystic duct-CHD.
What happens if you injure common bile duct?
A bile duct can get cut, burned, or pinched. As a result of an injury, the bile duct will not be able to work right, leaking bile into the abdomen or blocking the normal flow of bile from the liver. Bile duct injuries lead to symptoms that can be painful, even deadly, if not treated.
How do you fix a common bile duct injury?
These injuries can typically be repaired primarily with sutures and placement of abdominal drains in the area [102]. Conversely, major BDIs (i.e., Strasberg E) are associated with tissue loss (e.g., the common bile duct is clipped and transected) and require complex reconstruction with a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy.
What happens if your liver gets nicked during surgery?
However, if the bile duct is mistakenly cut or nicked during the surgery, bile will seep into the abdominal cavity and poison the patient. The location of the injury to the common bile duct determines in large measure the seriousness of the injury and the probability of successful repair.
What causes a bile duct injury?
Overview. The most common cause of bile duct injuries is trauma to the bile duct during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder surgery). It is estimated that as many as 1% of gallbladder operations may lead to injury to the bile duct with subsequent development of a bile duct stricture.
How long does it take to recover from bile duct surgery?
It is an open operation involving a 15-25cm incision in the top right hand side of the abdomen beneath the rib cage to allow access to the bile duct. Most patients stay in hospital for around a week after the surgery and take 8-12 weeks to return to full normal activities.
How complicated is bile duct removal surgery?
Surgery for resectable bile duct cancers
Removing part of the liver is called a partial hepatectomy. Sometimes this means that a whole lobe (right or left part) of the liver must be removed. This is called hepatic lobectomy and is a complicated operation that requires an experienced surgical team.
How long does it take for bile ducts to heal?
How soon will I recover? You should be able to go home after 1 to 2 days if you had keyhole surgery or after 4 to 5 days if you had open surgery. You should be able to return to work after 3 to 4 weeks, depending on how much surgery you need and your type of work.
What is the medical term for repair of the bile duct?
The most common technique to repair major bile duct injuries is the Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy (RYHJ).
What is a Grade 5 liver laceration?
Grade V: laceration, parenchymal disruption involving >75% of hepatic lobe or >3 Couinaud segments within a single lobe; vascular, juxtahepatic venous injuries (ie, retrohepatic vena cava/central major hepatic veins).
How long does bile duct surgery take?
There are several types of surgeries to remove tumors in the bile ducts. On average, these surgeries take 3 to 5 hours.
Is ERCP a major surgery?
An ERCP is a minimally invasive interventional procedure that is part of the diagnostic and treatment plan for a number of gastrointestinal conditions. Your ERCP will require that you dedicate about a day to the procedure and recovery. You may experience substantial relief as a result of this intervention.
Is ERCP a high risk procedure?
Because ERCP is a high-risk procedure, the indication for ERCP, especially in cases of asymptomatic CBDS, should be determined after careful consideration of the risks and benefits of the treatment. However, no reports are available on the risk of ERCP-related complications focusing on asymptomatic CBDS.
Is bile duct surgery painful?
You won’t feel any pain during the procedure. Your doctor makes a small incision (cut) in the abdomen, locates the bile duct and injects a dye into the duct. The doctor then takes an X-ray, which shows where the stone or blockage is located.
How many times can you have ERCP?
While an ERCP is intended to be a one-time treatment, you may need a repeat procedure if your problem recurs.
What is the grading for hepatic injury?
The WSES Classification divides Hepatic Injuries into three classes: Minor (WSES grade I). Moderate (WSES grade II). Severe (WSES grade III and IV).
What is a Grade 3 liver injury?
A grade III laceration is characterized by a laceration that is > 3 cm of parenchymal depth, a subcapsular hematoma that is > 50% surface area of ruptured subcapsular or parenchymal hematoma, and an intraparenchymal hematoma that is > 10 cm or expanding. 13.
How long do you stay in hospital after bile duct surgery?
You usually go into hospital on the same day or the day before your bile duct cancer operation. You may stay in hospital for about 10 to 14 days.
How long is recovery from bile duct surgery?
How many times can you have an ERCP?
What is the most common complication of ERCP?
Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) is the most frequent complication, occurring in about 3 to 5 percent of people undergoing ERCP. When it occurs, it is usually mild, causing abdominal pain and nausea, which resolve after a few days in the hospital.
How long is bile duct surgery?
What is a Grade 5 injury?
5. Any injury in the presence of a splenic vascular.