Background: The aim of this study was to explore the efficacy and safety of endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTCD) in patients with malignant biliary obstruction and failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and ClinicalTrials.gov to identify studies reporting outcomes comparing EUS-BD and PTCD. Results: We identified 9 studies involving 469 patients. Technical success was similar for EUS-BD and PTCD (odds ratio [OR], 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.17-3.30; P = .71). EUS-BD was associated with higher clinical success versus PTCD (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.15-3.87; P = .02) in all studies. However, there was no significant difference between groups in studies using self-expandable metal stents (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.06-2.00; P = .24). The reported adverse event rate was significantly lower for EUS-BD compared with PTCD (OR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.22-0.52; P < .00001). Conclusion: The available literature suggests that EUS-BD is associated with fewer adverse events, greater clinical success, and comparable technical success compared with PTCD. According to the shortcomings of our study, more large, high-quality, randomized controlled trials are needed to compare these techniques and confirm our findings.
Keywords: endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage; malignant biliary obstruction; meta-analysis; percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage; systematic review.