Endoscopic biliary drainage for acute obstructive cholangitis: Effects of bilionasal drainage and stent placement

Abstract

Acute obstructive suppurative cholangitis is a life-threatening condition which requires prompt biliary decompression. A retrospective review of 92 patients with acute obstructive suppurative or nonsuppurative cholangitis (46 men and 46 women with a mean age of 65.1 years) was conducted. All patients had undergone endoscopic biliary decompression by retrograde cannulation with (79 patients) or without (13 patients) sphincterotomy. Nineteen patients had received sphincterotomy previously. In addition to biliary decompression, 48 of the 92 patients had a bilionasal catheter or a stent placed in the common bile duct (group A), while the other 44 patients did not (group B). The effect of drainage was successful in 83 of the 92 patients (90%), but 1 patient in group A died of liver failure due to advanced cirrhosis of the liver despite successful drainage; thus, the overall mortality rate was 1.1%. Although the mortality and overall morbidity rates (2.1% and 42% in group A, and 0% and 34% in group B, respectively) did not differ between the two groups, the frequency of recurrent cholangitis was significantly higher in group B (60%) than in group A (4.2%) (P<0.001). We conclude that endoscopic biliary decompression is a prompt, safe, and effective method for the treatment of acute obstructive cholangitis. We stress that a stent or a bilionasal drainage catheter should always be placed if recurrent cholangitis is to be prevented until complete clearance of the stones is achieved.