Hemobilia: transcatheter occlusive therapy and long-term follow-up

Eight patients with life-threatening hemobilia were treated by percutaneous transcatheter occlusive therapy. The bleeding was caused by a traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the hepatic artery in 6 cases (auto accident in 4, surgery in 1, biliary drainage in 1) and a true aneurysm of the hepatic artery in 2 (unknown etiology in 1 and mycotic in 1). Arterial catheterization was used in all cases except for one in which a direct percutaneous puncture was performed. Gelfoam alone was used as embolic material in 3 patients. In 1 patient each, the material used was gelfoam plus coils, coils alone, blood clot, n-butyl-cyanoacrylate and an occluding balloon catheter. In all cases the bleeding stopped and did not recur during the follow-up period which ranged from 9 months to 14 years. This experience indicates that transcatheter occlusive therapy is an effective method for the treatment of severe hemobilia.