Obstructive jaundice: epidemiology, diagnosis and choice of optimal method of biliary decompression

Abstract

Aim. To analyze epidemiological features and morbidity structure in obstructive jaundice, to estimate the results of diagnosis and treatment of this category of patients and to evaluate factors affecting the effectiveness of the treatment and diagnostic program.Materials and methods. The study was based on four-year experience of treatment of 484 patients with mechanical jaundice. Ultrasound, CT, MRI, endoscopic ultrasound, and cholangioscopy were used to diagnose the level of the obstruction and the causes of obstructive jaundice. The main method of decompression involved transpapillary interventions in 365 patients. Two patients underwent choledochoduodenostomy under endoscopic ultrasound guidance. Percutaneous transhepatic interventions and “rendezvous” method were applied in 82 cases.Results. The efficacy of transpapillary endoscopic retrograde procedures in obstructive jaundice accounted for 93.4%. Complications developed in 33 patients (8.4%) including postmanipulation pancreatitis – in 19 patients (4.9%), pancreatonecrosis – in 2 patients (0.5%), bleeding – in 9 patients (2.3%), retroduodenal perforation – in 2 patients (0.5%), Mallory–Weiss syndrome – in 1 patient (0.3%). The efficacy of antegrade percutaneous transhepatic interventions comprised 95.1%, while liver parenchyma bleeding developed in 3.7% of patients. In-hospital mortality amounted to 0.8% (malignant tumor progression).Conclusion. The increasing share of patients with mechanical jaundice in the structure of general surgical emergencies, as well as the need to use high-tech equipment for diagnosis and treatment, necessitate creating centers for treatment of patients with mechanical jaundice. Retrograde and antegrade minimally invasive surgeries for specific indications are considered to be the main methods of biliary decompression.