eMedicine Specialties > Gastroenterology > Biliary

Choledochal Cysts: Follow-up

Author: Michael AJ Sawyer, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Southwestern Medical Center; Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Comanche County Memorial Hospital; Consulting Staff, Great Plains Surgical Clinic, Inc
Coauthor(s): Tarak H Patel, MD, Consulting Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Reynolds Army Medical Center, Fort Sill; Thomas F Murphy, MD, Chief of Abdominal Imaging Section, Department of Radiology, Tripler Army Medical Center; Fernando V Ona, MD, Associate Professor, John A Burns School of Medicine, Phillipines; Chief, Center for Digestive and Liver Diseases, Nutrition, University of Hawaii; Professor, St Luke's College of Medicine, Veterans Administration Medical Center
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Nov 10, 2009

Follow-up

Further Outpatient Care

  • Patients need lifelong follow-up because of the increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma, even after complete excision of the cyst.

Complications

  • Patients undergoing excision of a choledochal cyst are subject to the usual complications associated with surgery, including hemorrhage, wound infection, bowel obstruction, and thrombotic complications.
  • Postoperatively, patients are at risk of developing pancreatitis and ascending cholangitis.
  • Late postoperative complications include development of intrahepatic bile duct stones and cholangiocarcinoma.
  • Adult patients with long-standing subclinical ductal inflammation and biliary stasis may develop one or more of the following complications: hepatic abscesses, cirrhosis, portal hypertension, recurrent pancreatitis, and cholelithiasis.

Prognosis

Patient Education

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • The major medicolegal pitfall associated with choledochal cysts is failure to diagnose them. Many patients have only subtle manifestations of the disease early in its course, and the clinical presentation may consist solely of intermittent bouts of right upper quadrant abdominal pain or unexplained, self-limited jaundice.
  • However, highly sensitive noninvasive screening and diagnostic modalities, such as ultrasound, are commonly available. Findings are extremely accurate and aid in the diagnosis. Ultrasound has been used to diagnose this condition prenatally.
  • Therefore, it should be extremely rare for patients with choledochal cysts to present with numerous repeated bouts of biliary colic, jaundice, or cholangitis before a definitive diagnosis is made. A proper level of clinical suspicion and the application of diagnostic tests, such as ultrasound, should make it relatively easy to diagnose this entity before development of its most dreaded complications, including cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma. 
 


More on Choledochal Cysts

Overview: Choledochal Cysts
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Choledochal Cysts
Treatment & Medication: Choledochal Cysts
Follow-up: Choledochal Cysts
Multimedia: Choledochal Cysts
References
Further Reading
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References

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Further Reading

Clinical guideline

 ASGE guideline: the role of ERCP in diseases of the biliary tract and the pancreas.
American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - Medical Specialty Society. 2005 Jul. 8 pages. NGC:004486

Related eMedicine topics

 Choledochal Cyst (Radiology)

Choledochal Cyst, Surgical Treatment (Pediatrics: Surgery)

Cholestasis

Gallbladder Disease

Caroli Disease

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Keywords

choledochal cyst, bile duct, jaundice, bile duct cysts, bile ducts, biliary tree, Caroli disease, choledochal cysts, congenital bile duct anomalies, extrahepatic biliary radicles, intrahepatic biliary radicles, upper abdominal mass, choledochocele, acholic stools

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Michael AJ Sawyer, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Southwestern Medical Center; Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Comanche County Memorial Hospital; Consulting Staff, Great Plains Surgical Clinic, Inc
Michael AJ Sawyer, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Surgeons, Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Tarak H Patel, MD, Consulting Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Reynolds Army Medical Center, Fort Sill
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Thomas F Murphy, MD, Chief of Abdominal Imaging Section, Department of Radiology, Tripler Army Medical Center
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Fernando V Ona, MD, Associate Professor, John A Burns School of Medicine, Phillipines; Chief, Center for Digestive and Liver Diseases, Nutrition, University of Hawaii; Professor, St Luke's College of Medicine, Veterans Administration Medical Center
Fernando V Ona, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Gastroenterological Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Mounzer Al Al Samman, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University School of Medicine
Mounzer Al Al Samman, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Gastroenterology, American College of Physicians, and American Gastroenterological Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Managing Editor

BS Anand, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Baylor College of Medicine
BS Anand, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association, and American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Alex J Mechaber, MD, FACP, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Alex J Mechaber, MD, FACP is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, and Society of General Internal Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Julian Katz, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine; Consulting Staff, Department of Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Hospital of the Medical College of Pennsylvania
Julian Katz, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Gastroenterology, American College of Physicians, American Gastroenterological Association, American Geriatrics Society, American Medical Association, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American Society of Law Medicine and Ethics, American Trauma Society, Association of American Medical Colleges, and Physicians for Social Responsibility
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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