Cholangoitis


Cholangitis (sometimes referred to as cholangoitis) is an inflammation of primarily the intrahepatic bile ducts. It is almost always associated with partial or complete obstruction of the bile ducts. The cause of obstruction may be choledocholithiasis, biliary strictures, primary sclerosing cholangoitis, congenital malformations or tumor obstruction of the bile ducts. Bile that stagnates in the ducts may then be infected with intestinal microorganisms (E. coli) and the process can then proceed intraparenchymatously, leading to multiple microabscesses in the liver and generalized sepsis, which is a life-threatening condition.

2021
cholangoitida
sepse
ERCP
Published at: 9.8.2021

Review

Pavla Tesaříková, MD
Physician, Department of Internal Medicine, Boskovice Hospital, Czech Republic

Cholangoitis is a serious life-threatening condition that almost always occurs in the field of partial or complete obstruction of the bile ducts, when the bile is congested and infected by microbes from the intestine. The most common cause of obstruction is choledocholithiasis (very often secondary to cholecystolithiasis), which corresponds to the high prevalence of cholelithiasis in the population. In the presented algorithm, a typical patient is very well described, it emphasize the need for quality history and physical examination in combination with the correct evaluation of laboratory results and findings of imaging methods for rapid diagnosis. The therapeutic process points to the importance of early causal treatment (administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics and biliary drainage) to prevent severe local (liver abscesses) and systemic complications (MODS), while emphasizing the initial assessment of the patient´s clinical condition and therefore considering hospitalization in intensive care to ensure vital functions. Finally, a possible complication of the performed endoscopic examination and its solution is described. The authors were able to squeeze a huge amount of important information into a simple algorithm, which in this (very fun and attractive) form will certainly help to quickly understand the issue and transfer theoretical knowledge into practice.

Sources

ZAVORAL, Miroslav a Johana VENEROVÁ, et al. Gastroenterologie a hepatologie. 1. vydání. Praha : Triton, 2007. ISBN 978-80-7254-902-3 ČEŠKA, Richard, et al. Interna. 1. vydání. Praha : Triton, 2010. 855 s. ISBN 978-80-7387-423-0

MUDR. NOVOTNÝ CSC, Ivo a Jiří MUC. LENZ. Endoskopický atlas horní části gastrointestinálního traktu : Endoskopická retrográdní cholangiopankreatografie (ERCP) [online]. Interní gastroenterologická klinika - Lékařská fakulta MU, [cit. 2015-11-18]. IKEM, - informační materiály. ERCP (Endoskopická Retrográdní Cholangio-Pankreatografie) [online]. [cit. 2015-11-18]. <https://www.ikem.cz/www/cs/>

ZEMAN, Miroslav a Zdeněk KRŠKA, et al. Chirurgická propedeutika. 3. vydání. Praha : Grada, 2011. ISBN 978-80-247-3770-6 KELNAROVÁ, Jarmila, et al. První pomoc II : Pro studenty zdravotnických oborů. 1. vydání. Praha : Grada Publishing, 2007. 184 s. ISBN 9788024721835.

Pavel Klener et al. Vnitřní Lékařství Čtvrté, přepracované a doplněné vydání (první elektronické) Galén, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2011 ISBN 978- 80-7262-857-5 (PDF)

Monjur, A. (2018, February 15). Acute cholangitis - an update. World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Retrieved from https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezproxy.muni.cz/pmc/articles/PMC5823698/

Mohammad Alizadeh AH. Cholangitis: diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2017;4:404–413. Retrieved from https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezproxy.muni.cz/pmc/articles/PMC5719198/

Related algorithms

Algorithms