Removable Intraductal Stenting in Duct-to-duct Biliary Reconstruction in Liver Transplantation

Randomized controlled trial including 7 French transplantation centers. Pre-inclusion of the patients is made when enlisted for liver transplantation (LT). Definitive inclusion and randomization is performed during LT, for patients undergoing a duct-to-duct biliary anastomosis with a graft bile duct diameter smaller than 7mm. In the intraductal stent tube group, a custom-made segment of a T-tube is placed into the bile duct, and removed endoscopically four to six months postoperative. The surgical technique is available on a movie during randomization on the website. The primary endpoint is the occurrence of biliary complications, including biliary fistulae and strictures, during six months of follow-up. Secondary evaluation criteria are the incidence of complications related to the stent placement and its extraction by endoscopy. Discussion: Biliary complications following LT are significant causes of morbidity, retransplantation and eventually mortality. Although controversial, the use of a T-tube has been proven to be useless and even responsible for specific complications in many studies, including several randomized trials. However, several studies have identified a small bile duct diameter as a risk factor for biliary stenosis. A threshold of 7mm was found to be significantly associated to biliary stenosis. Our team published a preliminary study including 20 patients using a new technique of intraductal stenting. Only 4 complications were reported in the overall study population while no biliary complication occurred in the subgroup of patients who received a whole graft LT. Moreover, no technical failure and no procedure-related complications were noted before and during drain removal. Although intraductal stent tube in duct-to duct biliary anastomosis seems feasible and safe, a multicentric randomized controlled study is needed to validate it as a protective tool for biliary complications following LT.