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Comparison of C-arm CT fluoroscopy and conventional fluoroscopy for percutaneous biliary drainage procedures
J J Froelich1, H J Wagner, N Ishaque
1Department of Radiology, Philipps-University Hospital, Marburg, Germany. froehlic@mailer.uni-marburg.de
Purpose:
To conduct a prospective randomized evaluation of C-arm computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopy for external biliary drainage procedures in comparison with conventional fluoroscopic guidance to reduce the number of transhepatic punctures as a primary endpoint.
Materials And Methods:
In 18 patients with biliary obstructions, 20 external percutaneous biliary drainage procedures were prospectively performed with use of either C-arm CT fluoroscopy or conventional fluoroscopy alone. The number of hepatic punctures, procedure time, and fluoroscopy time, were analyzed separately for both methods.
Results:
C-arm CT fluoroscopy resulted in a reduced number of transhepatic punctures, with decreased procedure and fluoroscopy times (P < .05; t test). When compared with conventional external biliary drainage procedures, a mean of 1.8+/-1 versus 4.8+/-2.8 hepatic punctures at a fluoroscopy time of 3.4+/-1.5 versus 11.4+/-7.4 minutes was required for C-arm CT fluoroscopy, while procedure times were 11+/-3.6 versus 16.2+/-9.3 minutes.
Conclusions:
C-arm CT fluoroscopy is associated with decreased procedure and fluoroscopy times, while fewer transhepatic punctures are required to establish external biliary drainage.