Question
My child is six months old, and the doctor has diagnosed them with biliary atresia. We are all terrified; we never had this issue before, and the child was perfectly fine during the examination. What are the treatment methods for biliary atresia?
Answer
So far, not all children with congenital biliary atresia can survive, as conservative treatment is unrealistic and ineffective, and cannot reverse the disease. The only treatment option is surgery. The surgery depends on the extent and type of biliary atresia. The most definitive treatment is liver transplantation, which has the potential to replace the previous liver with a new one and re-establish a biliary system both within and outside the liver, offering hope for the child’s survival. If liver transplantation is not performed, then merely anastomosing the bile ducts and intestines is done, but the efficacy of this treatment is not as certain. If there is also biliary obstruction within the liver, it is not suitable for bile-enteric anastomosis surgery.