[Carcinoma of extrahepatic bile ducts - operative management of lesions located in the distal segments].

Experience with operative management of patients presenting carcinomas located in the distal third of the extrahepatic bile ducts, accumulated in the Department of General and Operative Surgery of the Medical University--Sofia, is analyzed. The condition is characterized by manifestation of clinical signs typical of a well advanced pathological process, found in a considerable number of patients with obstructive jaundice syndrome, and necessitating surgery on an emergency basis because of the danger of hepatorenal failure development with a fatal outcome. Over a 10-year period (1989-1998), a total of 219 patients with histological evidence of carcinoma in various segments of the extrahepatic bile ducts are operated on. The series includes 107 men (48.9%) and 112 women (51.1%) at mean age 59.2 years. In 64 cases (29.2%) the process involves the distal third only (terminal choledochus and papilla Vateri). In this group 41 radical and 23 palliative operations are performed. The indications for radical resection, the basic principles of radical and palliative interventions, and the results of their practical implementation are comprehensively discussed. The basic parameters--resectability, survivorship, early postoperative lethality (EPL) and morbidity--are comparable to the ones presented in recently published reports on biliopancreatic oncosurgery.