Background: The British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines for the management of malignant obstructive jaundice state: "If a stent is placed prior to surgery, this should be of the plastic type and it should be placed endoscopically. Self-expanding metal stents should not be inserted in patients who are likely to proceed to resection." In 2003, a small series of complications after endoscopic intervention caused a change in the authors' practice. Currently, all patients requiring relief of biliary obstruction before surgical resection undergo attempted insertion of a short metal biliary stent.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of the authors' prospective database containing all patients presenting with periampullary and pancreatic tumors between January 2004 and May 2008 was performed.
Results: The authors have attempted percutaneous placement of internal metal stents in 67 patients with resectable malignancies and biliary obstruction. Stenting was successful for 53 patients (79%), and 5 patients (9.4%) experienced complications. These five patients were successfully managed conservatively, and all proceeded to trial dissection. The mean bilirubin level was 253 mg/dl before intervention and 33 mg/dl before surgery for the stented patients compared with 308 mg/dl before intervention and 102 mg/dl before surgery for those who needed external drainage.
Conclusions: Percutaneous insertion of short metal stents provides a safe and effective alternative to endoscopic stent placement for treating jaundice preoperatively in patients with potentially resectable tumors around the pancreatic head.