Percutaneous trans-hepatic biliary drainage: A retrospective study from a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

This study was conducted to assess the safety of the radiological procedure called percutaneous trans-hepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) performed to drain the obstructed biliary system. A retrospective review of the data of 210 patients, who underwent PTBD from January 2015 to December 2018, was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. No post procedure complications were seen in 151(71.9%) patients. Infection was the most common complication seen in 18(8.6%) patients, catheter/stent occlusion or displacement in 14(6.7%), bleeding in 6(2.9%), and prolonged hospital stay (> 5 days) in 21(10%) patients. One hundred and seventy-nine (85.2%) patients showed clinical improvement, 21(10%) died in the hospital, of whom 5(2.3%) died due to PTBD complications and PTBD failed in 10(4.8%) patients.