Patients and IRs alike dread the persistent cycles of malfunction and repeated procedures that often accompany biliary drains. What can you do to keep patients off the doorstep of reintervention? In this episode of the BackTable Podcast, Dr. Ahsun Riaz of Northwestern Medicine joins host Dr. Michael Barraza to walk through strategies for preventing and managing complications of percutaneous biliary drain placement.

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Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction
01:51 - Complication Rates and Associated Factors
06:09 - PTC in Non-Dilated Biliary Systems
11:00 - Techniques for Access and Drain Placement
15:10 - Drain Flushing, Capping, and Ideal Positioning
17:48 - External versus Internal-External Biliary Drains
20:42 - Managing Pericatheter Leakage
23:01 - Life Expectancy and Stenting Malignant Strictures
26:32 - Tract Maturation and Minimizing Access Sites
28:56 - Addressing Unresolving Hyperbilirubinemia
34:52 - Managing Bloody Drain Output
38:12 - Approach to Dislodged Drains
39:40 - Drain-Associated Pain and Exchange Timing
42:49 - Strategy for Benign Biliary Strictures
45:18 - Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks

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More about this episode

The discussion begins with a look at the data on biliary drain-related adverse events, emphasizing the need to bring down the high rates of complications that may take a toll on patients' quality of life. Dr. Riaz stresses the importance of employing techniques at initial drain placement, such as placing left-sided drains where appropriate and minimizing biliary pressure buildup, to reduce the starting risk of malfunction. The physicians go on to share their algorithms for approaching various scenarios, from pericatheter leakage and drain dislodgement to unresolving hyperbilirubinemia, pointing out the factors and observations that should influence treatment approaches during planning and intraprocedurally. Finally, the physicians address the evolving landscape of long-term biliary management, assessing potential drainage strategies as survival rates improve in hepatobiliary malignancies, and underscore the critical importance of collaboration with gastroenterologists and surgeons to ensure cohesive, goals-of-care-centered management.

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Resources

Adverse Events After Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage: A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvir.2024.12.022