Bile duct obstruction

1. Your liver makes a substance called bile that helps with digestion.
2. Your gallbladder stores it until you need it to digest fat.
3. Then your gallbladder pushes the bile into tubes called bile ducts.
4. They carry the bile to your small intestine.

When the bile ducts become blocked, bile builds up in the liver, and jaundice (yellow color of the skin) develops due to the increasing levels of bilirubin in the blood.

Different diseases can obstruct the bile ducts and cause a problem with the flow of bile:
- Gallstones are one of the most common causes of blocked bile ducts.
- infection
- inflammation of the bile ducts
- tumors of the bile ducts or pancreas
- trauma including injury from gallbladder surgery
- internal scar tissue. Scarring can block the bile ducts, which can lead to liver failure.

The goal of treatment is to relieve the obstruction and help bile flow normally from the liver into the intestine. This may involve surgery or less invasive procedures (endoscopic or percutaneous dilation).

(S:NLM)