Palliative percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage: assessment of morbidity and mortality

The results of palliative percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage were assessed retrospectively in 16 cases and prospectively in 7 between 1982 and 1985. Causes of biliary obstruction were metastatic cancer (nine), pancreatic cancer (nine), cholangiocarcinoma (three) and gallbladder cancer (two). Internal drainage was established in 78.3%. In the 19 patients who died, the mean duration of drainage was 3.6 months. Early morbidity was 17.4%. Late septic morbidity occurred in 11 patients (48%) (a total of 28 episodes). Late deaths (31.2%) resulted from upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hepatic abscess, septic shock, subhepatic abscess and peritonitis. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage is associated with substantial morbidity (67.4%) and mortality (35.5%) from infection. Palliation was modest; only eight patients spent more than half their survival time at home, and 10 patients never left hospital. Clinical trials are required to assess the risk-to-benefit ratio and role of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage versus surgical bypass in patients with lesions amenable to surgery, and biliary drainage versus no treatment in patients whose tumour cannot be bypassed.