Cholangitis in the postoperative course after biliodigestive anastomosis

Background Hepatobiliary surgery with biliodigestive anastomosis (BDA) results in a loss of the sphincter of Oddi with consecutive ascension of bacteria into the bile system which may cause cholangitis in the postoperative course. Methods Patients who received reconstruction with a BDA after hepatobiliary surgery were analyzed retrospectively for their postoperative course of disease depending on intraoperatively obtained bile cultures and antibiotic prophylaxis. Results Two hundred forty-three patients were included in the analysis, 49.4 % of whom had received endoscopic stenting before the operation. Stenting was significantly associated with the presence of drug-resistant bacteria in the intraoperatively obtained bile sample ( p