Catheter Tract Recurrence After Percutaneous Biliary Drainage for Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma

Excerpt

I read with interest the paper by Kang et al. [1] on the outcome of catheter tract recurrence after preoperative percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCA). They reported PTBD catheter tract recurrence in 2.6 % (6/232) of cases. Their incidence was similar to that reported by Hwang et al. [2] (1.7 %, 4/231) and lower than that reported by Takahashi et al. [3] (5.2 %, 23/445). Takahashi et al. [3] and Kang et al. [1] revealed that the prognosis of PTBD catheter tract recurrence is generally poor, even after resection. They also discussed the limitations of endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD) for selective drainage, the possibility of malfunction or local inflammation around the tumor, and patient suffering. …