Efficacy of Nasobiliary Tubes and Biliary Stents in Management of Patients with Bile Leak after Liver Transplantation: A Systematic Review

Background/aims: Bile leak is one of the most common complications of liver transplantation. The treatment options for bile leaks include conservative management, surgical re-intervention, percutaneous drainage and endoscopic drainage. We aimed to perform a systematic review to identify the efficacy of endoscopic treatment in the resolution of post-transplant bile leaks.

Methods: Two independent reviewers performed systematic literature search in PubMed, ISI Web of Science, grey literature and relevant references in May 2017. Human studies in English with documented post-liver transplant bile leaks were included.

Results: Thirty-four studies were included in the final analysis. The pooled efficacy of biliary stents for the resolution of post-transplant bile leaks was 82.43% compared with 87.15% efficacy of nasobiliary tubes. The efficacy of biliary stents was lower for anastomotic leaks (69.23%) compared to T-tube (90.9%) or cut-surface/ cystic duct stump related leaks (92.8%). Similarly, the efficacy of nasobiliary tube was also lower for anastomotic leaks (58.33%) compared to T-tube or cut-surface related leaks (100%).

Conclusion: In this systematic review, the overall efficacy was 82.43% in biliary stent group, and 87.15% in nasobiliary tube group. Both biliary stent and nasobiliary tube were more effective in managing non-anastomotic leaks compared to anastomotic leaks.