Treatment of acute cholangitis with hepatolithiasis.

Abstract

To evaluate the treatment of recurrent acute cholangitis with hepatolithiasis. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients with recurrent acute cholangitis who were treated in Peking Union Medical College Hospitals emergency department from January 1998 to December 2008. Totally 408 patients underwent surgery, of which 167 patients received emergency operations and 241 underwent selective operations after medication and interventional treatment. The incidence of complications was 6.4% among those who received emergency operations and 3.2% among selective operations. The 30-day mortality rate of selective operations was zero. Along with the progress of percutaneous cholangiographic drainage and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, selective operations have been increasingly applied for acute cholangitis with notably low complications and postoperative death.