Surgical management of choledochal cysts: a review of 60 cases.

Sixty cases of choledochal cysts in children are reviewed. The series comprises 55 cases of Alonso-Lej. Type 1 cysts, two cases whose cysts were infraduodenal and retropancreatic in position, and three cases of choledochal cysts with both proximal and distal atresia of bile ducts. The following five types of operative procedures were employed for the 58 cases: (1) Choledochocystoduodenostomy in 12; (2) Partial excision, choledochorraphy and choledocho-duodenostomy in six; (3) Cyst excision, portal dissection and portojejunostomy in three; (4) Choledochocystojejunostomy Roux-en-Y in 20; and (5) Cyst excision with hepaticojejunostomy Roux-en-Y in 17 cases. Two patients did not receive definitive surgical treatment. Early complications included six cases of leakage, of which one died; and four cases of cholangitis and septicemia, resulting in fatality in all. The overall operative mortality was 5/58 (8.6%). This review, though retrospective in nature, further supports the more recent trend that radical cyst excision with hepaticojejunostomy is the treatment of choice. This procedure carried no mortality and low morbidity. All 17 patients treated in this manner are well and free from jaundice and recurrent cholangitis. Cyst excision eliminates the reservoir for bile stasis, biliary obstruction, cholangitis, and biliary cirrhosis. It also removes the possibility of malignant change in the cyst and spontaneous rupture.