Percutaneous-endoscopic placement of endoprostheses for relief of jaundice caused by inoperable bile duct strictures.

Fifty-three patients with biliary obstruction caused by unresectable malignancy were treated by attempted insertion of an endoprosthesis by the percutaneous-endoscopic route. This was successful in 50 patients. A single endoprosthesis was inserted in each case. Both right and left hepatic duct decompression were obtained in 31 patients, but only unilateral or segmental drainage was achieved in 19 patients. Procedure-related complications occurred in 18 (36%) patients, and 15 (30%) patients died within 30 days of the procedure. Satisfactory resolution of jaundice was obtained in 26 (84%) patients with bilateral decompression and in 12 (63%) of those with unilateral drainage. The 30-day mortality rate was 26% for patients with bilateral and 37% for those with unilateral drainage. The morbidity rate from cholangitis after endoprosthesis insertion was 10% after bilateral and 32% after unilateral drainage. None of these differences was statistically significant. Surviving patients with satisfactory bile drainage were relieved of symptoms such as pruritus. The combined percutaneous-endoscopic technique enables difficult biliary strictures to be intubated. Although bilateral duct drainage is preferable, the palliation is often worthwhile even when segmental ducts alone are drained.