Mechanical jaundice treatment

Mechanical jaundice and malignant lesions of bile ducts

Mechanical jaundice is the presence of a mechanical barrier that prevents the free passage of bile produced in the liver into the duodenum. The mechanical barrier may be a stone, biliary sludge, a growth of the bile ducts themselves, or a growth pressing on the ducts from outside. If the cause of mechanical jaundice is a stone or biliary sludge, the patient is first offered ERCP.

In case of mechanical jaundice caused by unsuccessful ERCP or malignant cause, percutaneous biliary drainage and stent insertion operations ensure free passage of bile to the duodenum. Since this operation is often performed under local anesthesia and sedation, it can be performed on patients of any age group or with concomitant problems. If earlier patients who could not undergo such surgery (risk of anesthesia) died of jaundice in a short period of time, now these operations can be performed without harm to the patient by interventional radiological methods.