Bacterial colonisation of the bile in the long-term course after liver transplantation – An ERCP-study

Background: Under physiological conditions bile is a sterile fluid due to the rinsing effect, the gate-keeper function of the sphincter of Oddi and biliary IgA. In patients after LT, however, bactobilia occurs frequently, in some cases leading to cholangitis and biliary sepsis. In the present study, we wanted to investigate the incidence of bactobilia in LT patients, predisposing factors for bactobilia, the microbial spectrum in the bile and determine the optimal antibiotic treatment. Patients and methods: 66 patients after LT were included in our study undergoing 172 ERCs in total. During each ERC bile was samp…