Stent insertion for inoperable hilar cholangiocarcinoma: Comparison of radioactive and normal stenting

ABSTRACTTo assess effectiveness and safety associated with radioactive stenting for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCCA) patients.This single-center retrospective study compared baseline and treatment data of recruited consecutive patients with HCCA underwent either normal or radioactive stenting between January 2016 and December 2019. Clinical success was defined by total bilirubin (TBIL) levels falling below 70% of the preoperative baseline within 2 weeks post stent insertion.Sixty-five patients with inoperable HCCA underwent normal (n = 35) or radioactive (n = 30) stenting at our center. Technical success of both types of the normal and radioactive stent insertion was 100%. Each patient received 1 stent. In the radioactive stent group, each patient received 1 radioactive seed strand (RSS), containing 10 to 12 radioactive seeds. Clinical success rates were 86.8% and 100% in normal and radioactive groups, respectively (P = .495). We observed stent dysfunction in 9 patients (normal group) and 7 patients (radioactive group) (P = .824). Median duration of stent patency was 165 days (normal group) and 226 days (radioactive group) (P