Background: Surgical resection remains the gold standard for the treatment of localized adenocarcinoma of the extrahepatic bile ducts. Yet, treatment of loco-regional recurrences is not well defined.
Case presentation: We present an unusual case of distal adenocarcinoma of the extrahepatic bile ducts that was treated with surgery and relapsed two years later with a solitary recurrence on the tract of a previous Redon drain. In addition, a review of the literature on management of loco regional relapses is presented.
Conclusions: The ideal management of these patients still remains undefined. Decisions are made based on clinical parameters from retrospective series, such as tumor grade, surgical margins or lymph node involvement. Prospective studies, that include molecular and genetic markers, are needed to improve patient selection and outcomes on this population.