Background:

Different publications have examined the pathophysiology of bile duct injury (BDI), bur few studies have investigated the effects of BDIs and their subsequent repair on psychosocial and health-related quality of life

Objective:

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life of patients before and after definitive BDI repair.

Material and methods:

The SF-36 Health Survey was used as an instrument to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) in a series of patients operated on between December 2015 and June 2019 for BDI repair.

Results:

Of 48 patients who underwent BDI repair, 22 (46%) responded to the survey. The SF-36 items, which includes different domains (physical functioning, physical role functioning, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional role functioning, mental health, and health transition) were compared. All domains demonstrated statistically significant improvement (p < 0.001) following repair. On univariate analysis, mental health was affected by the presence of a complex injury (p = 0.019), and physical and emotional role functioning before BDI repair were associated with the type of injury of the Strasberg classification (p = 0.001 and p = 0.032, respectively). An associated vascular injury had a negative correlation with physical functioning (p = 0.019), vitality (p = 0.033), mental health (p = 0.005), and pain (p = 0.026) prior to repair.

Conclusion:

The definitive resolution of BDIs at a center specialized in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery resulted in a significant improvement of patients’ quality of life.

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