Best options for preoperative biliary drainage in patients with Klatskin tumors.
Operative treatment combined with PBD has been established as a safe management strategy for Klatskin tumors. However, controversy exists regarding the preferred technique for PBD among percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD), endoscopic biliary stenting (EBS), and endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD). This study aimed to identify the best technique for preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) in Klatskin tumor patients.



This study evaluated 98 Klatskin tumor patients who underwent PBD prior to operation with a curative aim between 2005 and 2012. The PTBD, EBS, and ENBD groups included 43, 42, and 13 patients, respectively. Baseline characteristics, technical success rate, complications of PBD, and surgical outcomes were compared.



Initial technical success rates (97.3 %, PTBD; 90.2 %, endoscopic methods, including EBS and ENBD) and mean duration until biliary decompression (31.0, PTBD; 28.7, EBS; 35.8 days, ENBD) were not significantly different between the groups. Total frequency of complications did not significantly differ between the EBS group (42.9 %) and the PTBD (27.9 %, p = 0.149) and ENBD (15.4 %, p = 0.072) groups. The ENBD group showed a significantly higher rate of conversion to other methods (76.9 %) than the PTBD (4.7 %, p < 0.0001) and EBS (35.7 %, p = 0.009) groups.



PTBD, EBS, and ENBD showed comparable results regarding initial technical success rates, complication rates, and surgical outcomes. As Klatskin tumor patients must undergo PBD prior to 3 weeks before surgery, PTBD and ENBD are uncomfortable and disadvantageous in terms of compliance. EBS was the most suitable method for initial PBD in terms of compliance among Klatskin tumor patients.
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
Jung Hyun
JH
Jo
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea. MJCHUNG@yuhs.ac.
Moon Jae
MJ
Chung
Department of Surgery, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Dai Hoon
DH
Han
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
Jeong Youp
JY
Park
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
Seungmin
S
Bang
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
Seung Woo
SW
Park
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
Si Young
SY
Song
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
Jae Bock
JB
Chung
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D002779:Cholestasis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D019299:Decompression, Surgical; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018285:Klatskin Tumor / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015607:Stents
Endoscopic biliary stenting; Endoscopic nasobiliary drainage; Klatskin tumors; Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage; Preoperative biliary drainage