Benign Stricture of the Intrahepatic Bile Ducts

Benign fibrous stenosis of the common hepatic and common bile ducts has been frequently reported as a cause of biliary obstruction. The fibrosis has been associated with some form of surgical trauma in the majority of cases reported. The finding of stenotic areas at the first operation and the extent and character of the lesion has led some investigators to believe that the condition might also be the end result of a primary disease, ulcerative cholangitis.¹ A similar type of benign stricture in the intrahepatic ducts, well away from the possibility of direct surgical trauma, gives additional credence to the belief that the lesion may occur primarily in operative as well as nonoperative patients and independent of surgical trauma. Ulceration by stone and injury from the pressure of an indwelling drainage tube are other causes that are mentioned in the literature. In none of the cases encountered in the