Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage : complications and their treatment

In the present series of 296 PTBDs in 281 patients, 103 complications of different degree developed (34.7%). Early complications directly connected to the procedure (32/296 = 10.8%) and late complications generally due to malfunctioning of the catheter or progression of the disease (71/296 = 23.9%) are analyzed. Caveats to prevent complications, therapeutic procedures to resolve them, as well as obtained results are reported. On the whole, major complications directly related to the procedure are present in a small percentage and the procedure appears well tolerated also in patients with poor general conditions