Physiologic Disturbances Incident to Obstructive Jaundice

Medical history reveals that the problem of the jaundiced patient is an old one. It occupied a prominent place in ancient Hebrew and Arabian medicine, and this symposium signifies that the problem is not yet solved. Although tremendous progress has been made in the surgery of obstructive jaundice, the same cannot be said regarding the physiologic disturbances. Considerable work has been done and progress made, but the problem has not received the attention it deserves. The physiologic disturbances incident to obstructive jaundice are too numerous to list and to discuss even briefly in a short review. One can consider only those disturbances which appear to be the most important in the light of present knowledge. That the physiologic disturbances are numerous and complex is to be expected when one considers that bile retained in the biliary passages not only may pass into the blood and thus influence many organs but