Biliary intervention: Diagnostic and therapeutic considerations

The intelligent application of the myriad of interventional biliary tract procedures requires a thorough knowledge of biliary pathology, a keen diagnostic acumen, and an awareness of the relative merits, advantages, and disadvantages of the various surgical, radiologic, and endoscopic interventional techniques. A proper understanding of the use of these techniques makes it possible to determine the etiology and level of biliary obstruction, to differentiate benign from malignant disorders, and to determine the best form of definitive or palliative therapy. The first part of the paper focuses on the differential diagnosis of obstructive biliary lesions amenable to either fluoroscopically or endoscopically performed interventions. The relative merits of invasive and noninvasive imaging techniques are discussed, with particular attention given to the accuracy and reliability of the various procedures in differentiating benign and malignant disorders as well as in predicting the therapy best suited to the lesion. The indications for biliary drainage and the use of noninvasive studies to evaluate the results of surgical or nonsurgical decompression are considered. The second part of the course highlights the practical aspects of biliary intervention in the various disease entities previously discussed. Antegrade and retrograde techniques of biliary intervention are described, with the indications and complications of each type of method illustrated. Attention is given to methods of preventing and managing the various complications. The primary topics for discussion are percutaneous and retrograde access to the biliary system, percutaneous endoscopic methods of biliary drainage, stricture dilation, biliary catheterization as an adjunct to surgery, and combined transhepatic and endoscopic procedures