Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage guided by color Doppler echography.

Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) guided by color Doppler echography was performed on nine patients. By color Doppler echography, the segmental and subsegmental branches of both the portal vein and the hepatic artery could be identified and discriminated from the bile ducts because of their color flow mapping. We could select the safe pathway of needle advance, which did not injure the vessels. Thus, complication of bleeding did not occur in any of the patients. Color Doppler echography seems a very useful and safe method for the guidance of PTBD.