SPONTANEOUS PERFORATION OF THE BILE DUCT: A RARE COMPLICATION OF PREVIOUS SURGERY ON THE BILIARY TRACT: A CASE REPORT

Spontaneous perforation of the common bile duct (CBD) is a rare condition encountered in infants and children due to a variety of causes. It is even rarer in adults with very few cases reported in literature. The patient may present with acute abdomen secondary to biliary peritonitis or more commonly the presentation may be insidious with progressive abdominal distention and jaundice. Prompt recognition and early surgical intervention is the only solution to cure. Previous surgery on the biliary tract is an uncommon cause of spontaneous CBD perforation and very few cases have been reported till now. We present a case of biliary peritonitis secondary to CBD perforation in an adult female patient who had undergone laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis eight years back. The cause of the perforation was increased intraductal pressure due to distal obstruction of the CBD secondary to a benign fibrotic stricture.