When Your Child Has Biliary Atresia

The liver makes a substance called bile. It helps with digestion of food and helps carry waste out of the liver. Bile drains out of the liver through tubes called bile ducts. It drains through these ducts into the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). If a child has biliary atresia, it means that some or all bile ducts aren't formed correctly, are damaged, or are missing. As a result, bile can't drain from the liver as it should.