Therapeutic efficacy of external and internal-external percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice

Objective To investigate the efficacy of two different percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) procedures for malignant obstructive jaundice. Methods The clinical data of 132 patients with malignant obstructive jaundice who underwent PTBD were retrospectively analyzed. According to whether the tip of the catheter was placed in the intestine, 132 patients were divided into the external drainage group and the internal-external drainage group. The effect on decrease in jaundice (total bilirubin, direct bilirubin levels), postoperative complications, and hospitalization costs of the two drainage methods were compared. Results Of the 132 patients who were included in this study, there were 91 males and 41 females, aged 18 to 85 years. The external drainage group included 81 patients, and the internal and external drainage group included 51 patients. The total bilirubin [(190.2±41.8)μmol/L vs. (294.9±38.3) μmol/L] and direct bilirubin [(155.4±30.9)μmol/L vs. (242.1±39.6) μmol/L] levels in the external drainage group and the total bilirubin [(179.3±37.1)μmol/L vs. (288.1±35.4)μmol/L] and direct bilirubin [(147.7±32.5)μmol/L vs. (233.7±36.1)μmol/L] levels in the internal-external drainage group were significantly decreased after surgery (all P<0.05). The incidences of reoperation, re-intubation or bilateral catheterization [15.6%(8/51) vs. 3.7%(3/81)] and biliary tract infection [50.9%(26/51) vs. 27.1%(22/81)] in the internal-external drainage group was significantly higher than that in the external drainage group (all P<0.05). The mortality rate due to biliary tract infection in the internal-external drainage group was significantly higher than that of the external drainage group [7.8%(4/51) vs. 0, P<0.05]. Intestinal-derived bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the main bacteria in the biliary tract infections of the two groups. The hospitalization cost of patients in the internal-external drainage group was significantly higher than that in the external drainage group [(34 928.0±3 693.0) yuan vs. (29 360.0±3 219.0) yuan, P<0.05]. Conclusion Both PTBD external drainage and internal and external drainage could alleviate the symptoms of jaundice quickly and effectively. Key words: Jaundice, obstructive; Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage; Biliary tract infection