Injury to bile duct during cholecystectomy nearly triples risk of death

Patients who have their common bile duct injured during removal of their gall bladder have nearly three times the risk of death in the next few years as patients who do not incur the injury (JAMA 2003;290: 2168-73).

Cholecystectomy is the most common elective abdominal surgical procedure in the United States, with 750 000 procedures performed each year. Injury to the common bile duct occurs in 1 in 200 of these operations. Repair of the duct is considered a technically challenging procedure and sometimes …