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Updated: Jan 10, 2026
Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Biliary Drainage: Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Hepaticogastrostomy in Malignant Biliary Obstruction
Published on: March 25, 2022
Efficacy of double half-pigtail plastic stents for endoscopic biliary drainage of acute calculous cholangitis
Toshitaka Sakai1, Yoshihide Kanno1, Shinsuke Koshita1
1Department of Gastroenterology, Sendai City Medical Center, Sendai, Japan.
Background:
Plastic stent placement is required when biliary stones cannot be completely removed during the initial endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Although double half-pigtail plastic stents (DHPs) help prevent stent migration, their clinical utility has not yet been evaluated.
Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed data from 221 patients who underwent DHP placement for acute calculous cholangitis (ACC) between January 2015 and March 2024. Patient without complete stone removal during initial ERCP were included. Clinical success, adverse events, recurrent biliary obstruction (RBO), and time to RBO (TRBO) were compared in 21 patients treated with straight plastic stents (STs) under similar conditions.
Results:
Clinical success was achieved in 99% of patients in the DHP group and 95% of the ST group (p=0.13). Adverse event rates were comparable between groups. During follow-up, the DHP group had significantly lower stent occlusion (2% vs. 20%, p<0.01) and migration rates (4% vs. 15%, p=0.02), leading to a lower RBO rate (5% vs. 35%, p<0.01). The median TRBO was significantly longer in the DHP group (585 vs. 247 days, p<0.01).
Conclusions:
DHPs had comparable efficacy to STs, with significantly fewer stent-related adverse events. This may be a potential option for biliary drainage in ACC.
