Abstract

ORELLANA SOTO, Pablo. Presentación, diagnóstico y terapéutica de la colangitis aguda. Med. leg. Costa Rica [online]. 2014, vol.31, n.1, pp.84-93. ISSN 2215-5287.

The disease known as acute cholangitis was described for the first time in 1877 by Jean Marie Charcot as a “hepatic fever”. Its presentation varies, making its diagnostic difficult. Because of this the Tokyo Guidelines were developed. These guidelines help to make the diagnostic criteria more objective and global, giving at the same time severity criteria. The central stone of its management is the adequate bile drainage, being the first option the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancretography plus endoscopic sphincterotomy, which shouldn’t be delayed in the more severe cases.

Keywords : Cholangitis; acute; ERCP; Tokyo guidelines.