Biliary infection

Biliary infections are common conditions that can be life threatening. In the past, many of these conditions mandated emergency surgery, but advances in endoscopic and radiological techniques have allowed some of these to be managed in a minimally invasive fashion. Acute cholangitis is caused by infection in an obstructed biliary tree. Endoscopic drainage, together with broad-spectrum antibiotics, has replaced emergency common duct exploration and T-tube drainage as standard treatment. Oriental cholangitis, sclerosing cholangitis and AIDS-related cholangitis are some of the variants of cholangitis. Pyogenic liver abscesses complicating cholangitis can be managed by radiological percutaneous drainage. Close collaboration between surgeons, endoscopists and radiologists is the key to success in managing biliary infections.