Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2007 Jun 21;13(23):3268-70.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i23.3268.

Biliopleural fistula: a rare complication of percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage

Ming-Tsung Lee  1 , Sheng-Chuan Hsi, Philip Hu, Kuang-Yi Liu
Affiliations
Case Reports

Biliopleural fistula: a rare complication of percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage

Ming-Tsung Lee et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

A 79-year-old previously healthy man presented with acute acalculous cholecystitis with obstruction of the biliary tract. He was successfully treated with antibiotics and percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage, but returned to the hospital two days after discharge with a rare complication of this technique, biliopleural fistula. A thoracostomy tube was inserted to drain the pleural effusion, and the patient's previous antibiotics reinstated. After two weeks of drainage and antibiotics, the fistula healed spontaneously without the need for further intervention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A: Percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD); B: Chest x-ray showing blunting of right costophrenic angle secondary to pleural effusion (arrow); C: CT showing pleural effusion in right chest cavity (arrow); D: Biliopleural fistula.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Suggestion of decompressed pathways for biliopleural fistula adapted from the published literature[13,14].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Herschman Z, Amin D, Lehrfield A. Bilious pleural effusion as a complication of attempted percutaneous biliary drainage. Crit Care Med. 1991;19:128–129. - PubMed
    1. Strange C, Allen ML, Freedland PN, Cunningham J, Sahn SA. Biliopleural fistula as a complication of percutaneous biliary drainage: experimental evidence for pleural inflammation. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1988;137:959–961. - PubMed
    1. Oparah SS, Mandal AK. Traumatic thoracobiliary (pleurobiliary and bronchobiliary) fistulas: clinical and review study. J Trauma. 1978;18:539–544. - PubMed
    1. Chua HK, Allen MS, Deschamps C, Miller DL, Pairolero PC. Bronchobiliary fistula: principles of management. Ann Thorac Surg. 2000;70:1392–1394. - PubMed
    1. Singh B, Moodley J, Sheik-Gafoor MH, Dhooma N, Reddi A. Conservative management of thoracobiliary fistula. Ann Thorac Surg. 2002;73:1088–1091. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances