A 64-year-old female presented to the surgical emergency unit with a day's history of right upper quadrant pain. Her physical examination revealed right upper quadrant tenderness with no rebound tenderness or muscular guarding. Other systemic findings were normal. Laboratory test showed leukocytosis of 17 × 10³/µL and elevated C-reactive protein of 51 mg/L (0–5 ml/L). Other laboratory values including serum amylase, bilirubin and transaminases were normal. Abdominal ultrasound revealed thickened gallbladder (GB) wall (4.7 mm) with a 25 mm gallstone. A diagnosis of acute calculous cholecystitis was made and intravenous fluid and antibiotic treatment were initiated. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was considered after 48 h of observation. During surgery a standard 4-port technique was used after pneumoperitoneum using the Veress needle. GB wall was found to be inflamed with omental adhesions. Using the critical view of safety approach, the cystic artery and cystic duct were separately identified, clipped and transected. After careful dissection of the GB from the liver bed small amount of bile was observed oozing from a spot proximal to the ligated cystic duct stump. Irrigation of the spot revealed a small tear at what was thought to be the common hepatic duct. A 5-Fr drainage catheter (50 cm long, 1.4 mm in diameter) was placed into the opened duct and exteriorized through the mid-clavicular 5 mm port site for post-operative drainage. A tube cholangiography done on post-operative Day 7 showed duplication of the common hepatic duct proximal to the cystic duct stump with the injury occurring on the right-sided duct (Fig. ). A magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) was taken which confirmed the presence of the duplicated common hepatic duct with the cystic duct stump distal to the duplication (Fig. ). No PBM was observed. Her post-operative course was uneventful with an average biliary drainage output of about 300 ml. Drainage tube was clamped on post-operative Day 9 and finally removed 4 weeks after surgery. No complication was observed and patient is currently doing well.
A 77-year-old woman presented to the outpatient department of our hospital complaining of recurrent epigastric pain.\nPatient’s symptoms started a month ago with recurrent episodes, with no history of fever, chills, or vomiting.\nThe patient had a history of laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis 2 years earlier at another hospital. She had undergone endoscopic retrograde cholan-giopancreatography (ERCP) twice for choledocholithiasis before undergoing cholecystectomy.\nThe patient did not have a history of drinking or smoking. There was no remarkable family medical history.\nPhysical examination did not reveal tenderness or signs of peritoneal irrigation, and the bowel sounds were normal. At the outpatient clinic, her temperature was 36.7 °C, pulse rate was 70 beats/min, and blood pressure was 122/82 mm Hg.\nBlood analysis showed normal complete blood cell count, liver function test and C-reactive protein.\nComputed tomography (CT) imaging revealed a dilated CBD that harboured multiple choledocholithiasis (Figure ). After admission, ERCP was subsequently performed, and the stones were extracted using a Dormia basket (MTW Endoskopie, Wesel, Germany) (Figure ) after endoscopic papillary balloon dilatation by a CRETM balloon dilatation catheters (Boston Scientific Corporation, Natick, MA, United States). A 5 Fr endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD) catheter (ENBD-5, Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, United States) was inserted at the end of the procedure. A day after the ERCP, tubography via the ENBD catheter was performed to confirm the presence of residual stones in the bile duct. However, no definite filling defects were observed on tubography (Figure ). The patient was discharged without any complications of ERCP. A day after discharge, she visited the emergency department with complaints of severe epigastric pain and fever. Her temperature was 38.2 °C, pulse rate was 79 beats/min, and blood pressure was 149/85 mm Hg. Laboratory findings were suggestive of cholestasis [aspartate aminotransferase, 210 U/L (normal: 0–35 U/L); alanine aminotransferase, 134 U/L (0-35); alkaline phosphatase, 201 U/L (30-120); gamma glutamyl transferase, 184 U/L (9-64); total bilirubin, 2.77 mg/dL (0.3-1.2); direct bilirubin, 1.32 mg/dL (0-0.2); and C-reactive protein 6.91 mg/dL]. A CT scan demonstrated another dilated extrahepatic bile duct draining the right lobe of the liver, which also contained stones in the distal portion (Figure ). An urgent ERCP was performed as the stones were impacted at the ampulla (Figure ), and the stones with pus were retrieved using a balloon catheter (Escort II® Double Lumen Extraction Balloon, Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, United States). A 10 Fr, 5 cm endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage tube (Cotton-Leung Biliary Stent, Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, United States) was then placed in the CBD.\nMagnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) was performed to evaluate the delicate structures of the CBD and to check for any remnant stones. MRCP revealed DCBD independently draining the left and right lobes of the liver, that created a short segment intrapancreatic CBD (Figure ) without a communicating channel, that was consistent with the DCBD Type Va as classified by Choi et al[,]. Residual choledocholithiasis was also noted in the right CBD. There was no evidence of anomalous union of the pancreaticobiliary duct on MRCP.