Biliary and other gastrointestinal interventions

Over the past several years, renewed interest in biliary endoprostheses has developed among interventional radiologists. The experimental, technical, and clinical progress that produced this enthusiasm is reviewed, with emphasis on recently published reports. The application of percutaneous enterostomy for gastric decompression or feeding has become widely practiced, and recent reports of percutaneous and endoscopic gastrostomy are compared, with emphasis on controversial points. The technique of percutaneous enterostomy has been adapted for jejunal and colonic application, and these technical modifications, as well as miscellaneous biliary and gastrointestinal interventions, comprise the remainder of the review.