[Technique of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt: color Doppler US-guided paraumbilical vein puncture method].

The transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure is a percutaneous method for treating patients with symptomatic portal hypertension. One of the major technical difficulties of this procedure is the safe passage of a needle from the hepatic venous system into a major portal venous radical. The color US-guided paraumbilical vein puncture method involves percutaneous catheterization of a paraumbilical portosystemic collateral vein under sonographic guidance. We describe a method for portal venous localization that, while clearly not applicable in all candidates for TIPS, is easily and safely performed and should be considered a routine adjunct to the TIPS procedure when feasible.