Overview
The bile ducts connect the liver to the intestine and their function is to drain the bile, a product of normally functioning liver cells, which are also called hepatocytes. The most common diseases of the bile ducts are bile duct stones and bile duct narrowings. A bile duct narrowing is called a stricture.
The gallbladder is an organ that resembles a small pear. The gallbladder stores and dispenses bile, a fluid that is produced by the liver and helps digest fats.
The gallbladder is connected to the liver and the intestine by a group of ducts, including the common bile duct, the hepatic duct, and the cystic duct. When you eat, the gallbladder sends bile through the common bile duct into the intestine to help you digest the food.
Conditions We Treat
- Acute biliary (gallstone) pancreatitis.
- Acute cholangitis.
- Acute cholecystitis.
- Bile duct stones.
- Bile duct strictures.
- Bile duct cancer.
- Bile duct injury.
- Bile leak.
- Cholangiocarcinoma.
Other diseases of the gall bladder and bile duct include cholangitis (infection of the bile duct) and cholecystitis (infection of the gallbladder).
Treatments & Procedures
- Chemotherapy.
- Computed tomography (CT).
- Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).
- Endoscopic stents administered with the use of an endoscope or a slender, tubular optical instrument.
- Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS).
- Liver transplantation.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Percutaneous stents administered through the skin.
