Purpose: To assess the safety and effectiveness of percutaneous transsplenic access (PTSA) for portal vein (PV) interventions among patients with PV disease.
Materials and methods: Adult patients with PV disease were enrolled if they required percutaneous catheterization for PV angioplasty, embolization, thrombectomy, variceal embolization, or transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) placement for a difficult TIPS or recanalization of a chronically occluded PV. The procedures were performed between January 2018 and January 2023. Patients were excluded if they had an active infection, had a chronically occluded splenic vein malignant infiltration of the needle tract, had undergone splenectomy, or were under age 18 years.
Results: Thirty patients (15 women, 15 men) were enrolled. Catheterization of the PV through PTSA succeeded for 29 of 30 patients (96.7%). The main adverse effect recorded was flank pain in 5 of 30 cases (16.7%). No bleeding events from the spleen, splenic vein, or percutaneous access point were recorded. Two cases (6.7%) each of hepatic bleeding and rethrombosis of the PV were reported, and a change in hemoglobin levels (mean [SD], - 0.5 [1.4] g/dL) was documented in 14 cases (46.7%).
Conclusion: PTSA as an approach to accessing the PV is secure and achievable, with minimal risk of complications. Minimal to no bleeding is possible by using tract closure methods.
Keywords: Angioplasty; Embolization; Portal; Spleen; Splenic vein; TIPS; Transhepatic; Transmesenteric; Transsplenic; Varices.
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.