Clinical Outcomes of Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage in Pediatric Patients following Liver Transplantation

Abstract

Purpose: Cholestatic complications remain a primary cause of post-liver transplantation (LTX) morbidity in pediatric patients. Standard biliary access by endoscopic retrograde cholangioscopy may not be feasible due to modified biliary drainage. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTCD) may be performed alternatively. However, systematic data concerning safety and efficacy of PTCD in these patients are scarce. Methods: In this retrospective study, procedural and safety characteristics of PTCD in pediatric patients following LTX were analyzed. We compared laboratory indicators of inflammation, cholestasis, and graft function before and at 6 and 12 months after the first PTCD insertion. Efficacy was analyzed by percentage of patients without cholangitis, need for surgical biliary re-intervention and re-transplantation during a follow-up period of 60 months. Results: Over a decade, PTCD was attempted in a total of 15 patients, with technical success (93.3%) in 14 patients. Periprocedural complications, including bleeding (7.1%) and cholangitis (21.4%) were observed in patients. During follow-up, both MELD-score (baseline: 13 [8–15] vs. 12 months: 8 [7–8], p<0.001) and parameters of cholestasis (GGT: baseline: 286 [47–458] U/L vs. 12 months: 105 [26–147] U/L, p=0.024) decreased. Prior to PTCD, cholangitis (64.3%) and cholangiosepsis (21.4%) were common complications. In contrast, following PTCD, cholangitis occurred in only one patient (7.1%). Five patients (35.7%) needed surgical biliary re-intervention and two (14.3%) required re-transplantation. Conclusion: PTCD in pediatric patients following LTX had an acceptable safety profile, demonstrating a biochemical improvement of both cholestasis and graft function and may prevent cholestatic complications, thus reducing the need for surgical re-intervention and re-transplantation.