The vast majority of benign bile duct strictures occur following operations in or near the right upper quadrant. Other causes of benign bile duct strictures include:

a.Chronic pancreatitis

c.Primary sclerosing cholangitis

d.Intrahepatic arterial infusion of 5-fluorouracil

Most bile duct strictures are postoperative in nature with over 80% occurring after injury to the bile duct during cholecystectomy. A number of inflammatory conditions can also result in strictures of the biliary tree. The chronic inflammation and fibrosis associated with chronic pancreatitis can result in a stricture of the intrapancreatic bile duct. Primary sclerosing cholangitis is an idiopathic disease believed to be autoimmune in nature which is characterized by intrahepatic and extrahepatic inflammatory strictures of the biliary tree. Although primary sclerosing cholangitis is frequently associated with ulcerative colitis, this colonic disease has no direct causal relationship with benign bile duct strictures. A rare cause of benign bile duct strictures in both the intrahepatic and extrahepatic biliary tree has been the use of intrahepatic arterial infusion of 5-fluorouracil used to treat hepatic metastasis from colorectal carcinoma.