Background: Cholecystectomy remains the only satisfactory treatment for symptomatic gall bladder stones. Unfortunately, in some cases the operation is complicated by vasculobiliary injury. The present study was undertaken to investigate the blood supply of the normal biliary system, to simulate vasculobiliary injuries described after cholecystectomy, and to determine the possible effects of the vascular injury on biliary reconstruction.
Methods: The blood supply of the biliary system in nine normal livers was investigated by injection of the coeliac axis and superior mesenteric arteries with coloured gelatin. The specimens were dissected under magnification and drawings prepared. Injection dissection studies were also carried out in eight specimens in which various vasculobiliary injuries encountered after cholecystectomy were simulated.
Results: The bile ducts possess an arterial plexus on their surface which is supplied from below by ascending marginal vessels derived from the postero-superior pancreaticoduodenal artery. These marginal vessels end above in the right hepatic artery or its branches. The right and left hepatic ductal systems are supplied by the right and left hepatic arteries and their sectoral or segmental branches. The right and left hepatic arteries communicate freely via the hilar plate arterial plexus. This collateral system allows the blood supply to the right hepatic duct to be maintained after ligation of the right hepatic artery and interruption of the common hepatic duct or excision of the confluence.
Conclusion: A knowledge of the blood supply of the normal biliary system and the collateral hilar plate arterial plexus forms the anatomical foundation for successful reconstructive surgery, not only in vasculobiliary injuries following cholecystectomy, but also for a wide range of hepatobiliary procedures.