What to Know About Stent Placement for Bile Duct Cancer

If the cancer is blocking your bile duct, your doctor may place a thin tube called a stent into the bile duct. It helps keep the duct open and drain bile that builds up in the area. This bypasses the blockage that causes symptoms such as pain, or yellow eyes and skin, called jaundice.

Placing a bile stent is a temporary measure. It’s used to relieve the jaundice before surgery. Or it’s used before a more permanent bile stent is placed. A stent may be used in these ways.

• There are 2 main ways to place a bile stent without surgery. Both of these methods help relieve the jaundice by making a passage through the bile duct and allowing the bile to drain normally.

• A stent may also be placed during surgery.

Stent Placement Using ERC

A doctor specializing in GI procedures, called a gastrointestinal endoscopist, places a thin tube--similar to a small straw--inside the blocked bile duct. This tube is called an internal stent or endostent. The procedure to place it is called an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP). During it, the doctor inserts a flexible tube down your numbed throat to your small intestine. This stent is usually removed when you have surgery.

Stent Placement Using PTC

A specialist called an interventional radiologist injects a special dye into your liver bile duct and then takes an X-ray picture of your bile ducts. This procedure is called a percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram (PTC). The radiologist uses X-rays to guide him or her in placing a percutaneous transhepatic bile duct drain or stent (PTBD).

Here’s what happens during PTBD. An area on the right side of your abdomen is numbed. Then the doctor inserts a thin needle into your liver through your skin. Dye is placed through the needle into your bile duct. X-rays reveal the network of bile ducts and any blockage. The doctor passes a small wire through the needle into the area of blockage. Then, he or she places a long thin tube called a stent over the wire and guides it into your bile duct. One end of the stent is in the bile duct, and the other drains bile into your small intestine or to a bag outside your body.