[The sunken drain for internal biliary tract drainage (author's transl)].

In over 4000 interventions on the biliary tract a sunken drain was inserted in 35 patients: 3 times because of carcinomatous infiltration from outside, 27 times because of a proximal hepatic carcinoma and 5 times because of Echinococcus multilocularis. The postoperative mortality was 8.5%. Follow-up examinations show that a little more than a quarter of carcinoma patients died of the primary disease within 6 months but also that 5 patients survived their serious cancer disease for up to 2 1/2 years after the removal of the drainage obstruction. The sunken drain gives better results in Echinococcus alveolaris. Trouble-free intervals of many years were observed.