EXTRAHEPATIC BILIARY OBSTRUCTION; POSTOPERATIVE MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY

Extrahepatic Biliary Obstruction

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to evaluate the surgical management, both definitive and palliative, in selected patients with biliary obstruction and to find out the postoperative morbidity and mortality in these patients.
Study Design: A descriptive study.
Duration and Settings: Duration of the study is two years conducted from June 2002 to May 2004. The study was carried out at the surgical unit 4 of the Combined Military Hospital and surgical department of the Military Hospital.
Patients and Methods: Thirty eight cases of biliary obstruction were included. A convenient sampling technique was followed. Data analyzed by using SPSS version 10.0 for windows on computer. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, average etc were computed for data presentation. Any inferential test was not found to be applicable for this descriptive type case series.
Results: We selected 38 patients with features of extrahepatic biliary obstruction. Out of these (n 38) 15 patients (39.5%) suffered from benign diseases while those having malignant diseases were 23 (60.5%). 19 (50%) patients died within two years of follow up while 19 (50%) were the survivors. Mortality was maximum for the malignant cases. In benign cases only one patient died. Maximum deaths 6 (31.6%) occurred in the period of up to one month of operation. 20 patients had one or another complication of operation and hence the morbidity came out to be 52%.
Conclusion: According to our results the mortality and morbidity related to extrahepatic biliary obstruction in our patients was higher compared to other studies which can only be reduced by early detection and treatment.