A surgical procedure that creates a connection between the liver ducts and the stomach, allowing bile to flow directly into the stomach when normal routes are blocked.
From hepatic- (liver) + gastro- (stomach, from Greek gaster) + -stomy (surgical opening). This procedure became established in the early 20th century as an alternative route for bile drainage when standard biliary anatomy was damaged or diseased.
This is a pretty unusual surgical choice because the stomach normally contains strong acid—surgeons need to be very careful that bile flowing directly into the stomach doesn't cause problems, making this one of the more challenging liver-related surgeries to get right.
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