PubMed1992
Though very different, aberrant bile ducts and cysto-hepatic ducts are often confused. Aberrant bile ducts are abnormal ducts which do not drain any segment or sector of the liver. They are filled of bile counter-flow and can be injured not only in the gallbladder bed, but also elsewhere on the surface of the liver. Cysto-hepatic ducts are normal ducts, draining segment or sector of the liver, but because of an embryologic sliding, their branching is on the gallbladder or on the cystic duct. All these ducts can be injured during cholecystectomy, and it would be of importance to recognize the true type of duct one has to deal with, by radiologic explorations. The management is different as aberrant bile ducts need only to be ligated, instead, the cysto-hepatic ducts may require a reimplantation in the common bile duct or Roux en y loop. We discuss all these problems on the basis of 1200 traditional cholecystectomies where 1 aberrant bile duct, 3 cysto-hepatic ducts, and 3 external biliary fistulas were encountered.