[Clinical evaluation of biliary endoprostheses. A comparison of endoprostheses made of teflon and percuflex].

For the decompression of the biliary tree in case of obstructive neoplastic jaundice, 62 biliary endoprostheses were placed in 54 patients as an alternative to internal-external drainage. Teflon prostheses were used in 26 patients--which were placed in the stenotic tract--while in 28 patients soft percuflex prostheses were used, whose lower extremity was placed in the duodenum. The mean survival has been 6-7 months, with peaks ranging from 1 month to 2 years. By comparing the results obtained with the two different kinds of prosthesis we found that soft endoprostheses were associated with a lower incidence of late complications than teflon prostheses: cholangitis occurred in 7.2% of cases (vs teflon: 16%), occlusions in 3.5% (vs teflon: 11.5%), migrations in 7.2% (vs teflon: 7.6%). The incidence of such complications was, however, higher a few months after the application of the prosthesis. This palliative treatment is suggested in patients whose expected survival is not longer than 1-6 months. On the contrary, in case of patients with a better prognosis, an internal-external catheter drainage is preferred, for an easier access to the site of the lesion.