Biliopancreatic tumors: patient survival and quality of life after palliative treatment Tumores biliopancreáticos: supervivencia y calidad de vida de los pacientes sometidos a tratamiento paliativo

Objectives: to analyse survival and quality of life of patients with malignant obstructive jaundice after palliative treatment, comparing endoscopic stent insertion and palliative surgical (pallative resection and bypass surgical). Patients and method: eighty and seven patients were included in a trial. They were distributed to endoscopic stent (50) and palliative surgical (37). It analysed survival, quality of life and comfort index of jaundiced patients. The good quality of life was defined by absence of jaundice, pruritus and cholangitis after the initial treatment. Results: the median survival of the patients treated to endoscopic stent was 9,6 months whereas the patients to surgical treatment survived a median of 17 months. The time free of disease was 4 months in stented patients and 10,5 months in surgical patients. There was no significant difference in comfort index between the two groups (stented 34%, surgical 42,5%). Neither was there significant difference in survival and quality of life between palliative resection and bypass surgery. Conclusions: despite the survival and time free of disease being better in surgical patients, there was no significant difference in overall quality of life between the two groups. The survival and quality of life are the same after palliative resection as after bypass surgery, for this should not be performed routinely or to justify resection as a debulking procedure.Objetivos: analizar la supervivencia y calidad de vida de los pacientes con ictericia obstructiva maligna sometidos a tratamiento paliativo, y comparar estos resultados en función de la alternativa terapéutica aplicada (prótesis biliar endoscópica frente a cirugía paliativa de resección o derivación biliodigestiva). Pacientes y método: ochenta y siete pacientes fueron incluidos en el estudio que se distribuyeron en dos grupos: a) 50 sometidos a drenaje biliar endoscópico con colocación de endoprótesis; y b) 37 intervenidos quirúrgicamente. Se analizó la supervivencia y calidad de vida del enfermo, entendiendo como buena calidad de vida la ausencia de ictericia, prurito y colangitis tras el primer abordaje terapéutico. Se calculó el índice de confort según el cual el periodo de buena calidad de vida se expresa como porcentaje de supervivencia. Resultados: el tiempo medio de supervivencia fue de 9,6 meses en los enfermos drenados por vía endoscópica frente a 17 meses en los intervenidos quirúrgicamente. El tiempo asintomático de enfermedad fue de 4 me