Usefulness of the laser-cut, fully covered, self-expandable metallic stent for endoscopic ultrasound-guided hepaticogastrostomy

Background/Purpose Endoscopic ultrasound-guided hepaticogastrostomy (EUS-HGS) has many associated adverse events. We evaluated the clinical efficacy and safety of the laser-cut, fully covered, self-expandable metallic stent (FCSEMS) for this procedure. Methods This single-center, retrospective study included cases where EUS-HGS with a laser-cut FCSEMS was performed for malignant biliary obstruction. Technical and clinical success, time to recurrent biliary obstruction (TRBO), procedure time, adverse events, and re-interventions were evaluated. Results There were 95 eligible cases. Technical and clinical success rates were 100.0% and 95.8%, respectively. Median TRBO was 398 days. RBO causes were hyperplasia (7.4%), debris (3.2%), and migration (4.2%). Adverse events occurred in nine cases (9.5%). Non-occlusion and focal cholangitis occurred in four cases (4.2%) each. Nineteen patients (20%) underwent combined EUS-HGS (CH) procedures: antegrade stenting, bridging methods, plastic stent anchoring in SEMS, and EUS-hepaticoduodenostomy. The solely EUS-HGS (SH) group had significantly longer median TRBO than the CH group (398 vs 246 days, P = .04). There were no significant differences in adverse events between the two groups. Re-intervention was performed in 29 cases (technical success rate: 100.0%). Conclusions Laser-cut FCSEMS can be safely placed in the bile duct and easily applied during re-intervention, making it useful in EUS-HGS.