Endoscopic nasobiliary drainage and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage for the treatment of acute obstructive suppurative cholangitis: a retrospective study of 37 cases.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study compared the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic nasobiliary drainage(ENBD) to percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage(PTBD) for the treatment of acute obstructive suppurative cholangitis (AOSC). METHODOLOGY: AOSC patients were assigned to undergo either ENBD (n=22) or PTBD(n=15). RESULTS: In the ENBD group, the procedure was successfully completed in 19 patients (86.4%), where- as it was converted to PTBD in 3 patients (13.6%) due to the failure of antegrade cholangiography. All the patients in the PTBD group underwent first- or second-look PTBD successfully. CONCLUSIONS: ENBD is effective for the treatment of AOSC, facilitating subsequent endoscopic or surgical intervention. PTBD is an effective and safe alternative to ENBD in patients unsuitable for ENBD.