Endoscopic ultrasound guided biliary drainage: a comprehensive review

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) has become widely accepted over the past several years for complicated biliary drainage. When conventional endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is not successful or feasible due to a variety of constraints, an ultrasound-guided technique through intrahepatic and extrahepatic approaches allows adequate management of hepatobiliary obstruction. Other management alternatives include percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainages (PTBD) and complicated surgical approaches, both of which can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. There are various technical approaches to allow successful biliary drainage which will be reviewed in this article.