title: Simplified T-tube replacement with two-piece retrievable catheters.
abstract: A new two-piece T tube has been developed for easy reinsertion over a guide wire, usually without the need for tract dilation. It is introduced as a single unit over a removable introducer cannula and is formed in situ within the common bile duct by manipulation of guiding sutures. The self-retaining T configuration is maintained by a suture-locking device. The T tube can be easily retrieved, repositioned, or exchanged. It can be modified distally with either a long limb or a "T loop" to provide internal biliary drainage via the T-tube tract. These low-profile catheters improve the safety of tube replacement through immature tracts (n = 6) and have also been introduced through transhepatic tracts (n = 6). Thirty-three catheters have been placed in 21 patients without significant complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Methodist Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19148.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Scotti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002779:Cholestasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D004322:Drainage / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007440:Intubation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography