[Transhepatic biliary drainage as a method in the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive jaundice]

Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage was performed on eleven jaundiced patients, who had obstruction of the bile duct, in order to determine the exact site and nature of the obstruction and to alleviate the jaundice. In the present series, six patients were treated with external biliary drainage. Four of them received this treatment prior to radical surgery. In the remaining two cases the external drainage was a palliative procedure. In five patients, the drainage catheter was internalized through the obstructed bile duct (internal biliary drainage). One of these patients was subsequently treated with radical surgery. In two cases, the internal biliary drainage was palliative. In the two remaining cases, intraluminal selective irradiation was introduced via Iridium 192 flexible wires. Severe hemobilia occurred in one patient, who was successfully treated by lithotomy and "T" tube drainage. We conclude that the simplicity and low cost of these drainage procedures recommend them as extremely useful for the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive jaundiced patients.