Conservative Management of Biliary Obstruction Due to Fasciola hepatica

We report a case of temporary biliary obstruction due to fascioliasis. This case report shows that in Central Europe, fascioliasis is one of the differential diagnoses of abdominal pain, especially if it is associated with eosinophilia. Successful medical treatment is possible even with obstruction of the bile duct. Fascioliasis (liver fluke disease) is an infrequent infectious disease in Western Europe and the United States. If the diagnosis is established (e.g., by examination of stool or bile), medical treatment is the first choice for management. However, several reports have been published showing that biliary obstruction due to fascioliasis is almost always relieved by surgical intervention. Here we report a case of liver fluke disease with biliary obstruction that occurred in Germany, for which conservative medical treatment rather than surgery was attempted.