What to do about bile duct atresia

  Congenital biliary atresia is a common cause of obstructive jaundice during the neonatal period. If left untreated, it will inevitably progress to cirrhosis and liver failure already resulting in death. Therefore, once biliary atresia is diagnosed, surgery should be sought within 40-60 days after birth.  For biliary atresia is generally surgical treatment plus postoperative drug therapy.  1, for the possible anastomosis type of hepatic duct and common bile duct atresia do duodenal-jejunostomy, for the impossible anastomosis type do hepatoportal-jejunostomy. The age of surgery should be within 60 days and no later than 90 days. In infants with a disease duration close to two months and the diagnosis remains unclear, surgical exploration can be done. In children within 90 days, hepatic hilar-jejunostomy should be pursued, and liver transplantation can be done in case of surgical failure. For children over 90 days old, conditions can be created for liver transplantation.  2. Effective drug therapy is extremely important to improve the prognosis after hepatico-jejunostomy for biliary atresia. Postoperative treatment with choleretic drugs, hormones and antibiotics can be applied.  The operation time and surgical technique of biliary atresia are important factors affecting the prognosis. The postoperative bile drainage, the frequency and degree of postoperative cholangitis, and the degree of damage to the liver parenchyma can also affect the prognosis. And for liver transplantation treatment, it has been demonstrated that a 3-year survival rate of more than 90% is achieved at the age of 4 months to 17 years of age at the time of surgery.