Novel sutureless cholangiojejunostomy: initial experience with 11 cases.

BACKGROUND: It has become increasingly necessary to develop a reliable sutureless technique to replace the conventional hand-sewn one for carrying out bilioenteric anastomosis.

METHODS: A new sutureless technique for cholangiojejunostomy is described, and a retrospective review was conducted of a prospectively collected database, which included 11 patients who underwent sutureless cholangiojejunostomy between April 2005 and July 2006.

RESULTS: All patients successfully underwent sutureless cholangiojejunostomy, including choledochojejunostomy and hepaticojejunostomy. Median operative time was 13 minutes. There were no mortalities and no postoperative morbidities directly related to cholangiojejunostomy. At a mean follow-up period of 8.2 months, no patients had evidence of anastomotic stricture, except for 1 patient who developed obstructive jaundice because the recurrent tumor was pressing against the hepaticojejunal anastomosis.

CONCLUSIONS: Sutureless cholangiojejunostomy is simple, reliable, and feasible. Further larger-series studies, with longer follow-up periods and involving further improvements of the technique, are necessary before this procedure can become routine.