Cholangitis Definition, Reason, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention

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Cholangitis Definition, Reason, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention

Understanding

Cholangitis is an infection of the bile duct. This bile duct is a channel through which bile flows from the liver to the gallbladder and intestines.

Bile is generally sterile. However, if there is a blockage, this fluid cannot flow (stasis) and can cause infection. In addition, this blocked flow can be a backflow of bile.

Cholangitis can cause several complications, such as:

  • Kidney dysfunction
  • Acute kidney injury
  • Respiratory system dysfunction
  • Septic shock

Reason

There are several things that cause cholangitis, namely:

  • obstruction of the bile duct due to stones
  • ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde cholangiopancreatography)
  • tumor
  • narrowing of the bile duct (stricture or stenosis problems)
  • parasitic infections, such as liver flukes
  • cyst or diverticulum in the bile duct

Symptoms

Common symptoms found in people with cholangitis include:

  • yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
  • fever
  • upper right abdominal pain

While in a small proportion of cases will experience symptoms of Reynold’s pentad, namely:

  • Charcot’s triad of symptoms
  • hypotension due to septic shock
  • disturbance of consciousness

Diagnosis

The doctor will establish a diagnosis of cholangitis through the following criteria:

  1. Inflammation or systemic inflammation occurs, namely in the form of:
  • fever and/or chills with a temperature over 38 0 C
  • laboratory data indicating inflammation (an increase in leukocytes/white blood cells, increased CRP, or other data indicating inflammation)
  • body or yellow/icteric eyes
  • Laboratory data showed abnormal liver function results
  1. Cholestasis occurs, namely:
  1. The diagnosis can be confirmed through imaging, which will show:
  • bile duct dilation
  • will find the cause of the problem on the imaging (stone, stricture)

The suspicion of cholangitis can be clearer if one criterion factor 1 is found, plus one additional criterion from factor 2 or 3. The diagnosis can be confirmed if one criterion 1, one criterion 2, and one criterion 3 are found.

Treatment

Several efforts to treat cholangitis that can be done, such as:

  • administration of IV antibiotics
  • correction of fluid and electrolyte imbalances
  • endoscopy to clear blockages
  • in acute cholangitis, the patient will be advised to fast

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