The problem of benign stricture of the bile ducts is one which in recent years has come to occupy a position of major importance in the field of abdominal surgery, as is attested by the numerous papers on the subject which may be found in the current literature. While a few decades ago clinical observations and case reports were concerned chiefly with the so-called congenital strictures which are of interest to the pathologist but usually surgically hopeless, today the acquired type of stricture assumes the predominant rôle. The reasons for this are: first, the greater frequency with which these acquired strictures are encountered, probably owing to the more widespread practice of cholecystectomy; second, the chance of affording relief by surgical therapy now possible with the development of appropriate operative procedures for dealing with such lesions, and third, the importance of their prevention. For the most part the congenital strictures do