ALBERTO VİLAR TABANERA, ANA PUERTA VİCENTE, ADOLFO LÓPEZ BUENADİCHA, ROBERTO PEROMİNGO, PEDRO LOPEZ HERVÁS, JAVİER NUÑO VAZQUEZ-GARZA
Experimental and Clinical Transplantation - 2020;18(4):526-528
The anatomic variabilities in ducts of Luschka put patients at risk during hepatobiliary surgery. Clinically relevant bile leakage is the cause of 0.4% to 1.2% of complications of cholecystectomies, with almost onethird of complications caused by an inadvertent injury to the duct of Luschka. However, bile leakage from a duct of Luschka after liver transplant is rare, and only one previously published report has been found. Here, we report a case of a 67-year-old male patient who underwent liver transplant for cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus infection. After transplant, the patient had a choleperitoneum caused by bile leakage from a duct of Luschka. The donor surgery had been performed by surgeons from another institution, and they had also performed the previous cholecystectomy. Fifteen days after surgery, a cholangiography showed bile leakage near the anastomosis. A new intervention was decided. After confirmation of the integrity of the anastomosis, methylene blue was injected through the Kehr’s tube, which escaped from a duct of Luschka. The duct was closed, and an intraoperative cholan - giography confirmed that the biliary tree was intact. After this intervention, a new bile leakage was observed, resulting in an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography scan and sphincterotomy. The Kehr’s tube was kept open until leak resolution. Although unusual after liver transplant, this com - plication should be considered in cases of bile leakage. The ducts of Luschka are difficult to see during cholecystectomy in the graft due to perivesicular edema.
