Cluster hepaticojejunostomy with radial spreading anchoring traction technique for secure reconstruction of widely opened hilar bile ducts

Secure reconstruction of multiple hepatic ducts that are severely damaged by tumor invasion or iatrogenic injury is a challenge. Failure of percutaneous or endoscopic biliary stenting requires lifelong placement of one or more percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) tubes. For such difficult situations, we devised a surgical technique termed cluster hepaticojejunostomy (HJ), which can be coupled with palliative bile duct resection. The cluster HJ technique consisted of applying multiple internal biliary stents and a single wide porto-enterostomy to the surrounding connective tissues. The technique is described in detail in the present case report. Performing cluster HJ benefits from three technical tips as follows: making the multiple bile duct openings wide and parallel after sequential side-to-side unification; radially anchoring and traction of the suture materials at the anterior anastomotic suture line; and making multiple segmented continuous sutures at the posterior anastomotic suture line. Thus, cluster HJ with radial spreading anchoring traction technique is a useful surgical method for secure reconstruction of severely damaged hilar bile ducts.