Guest guest Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 I currently have a bilarly draincge tube. It has been in for almost 6 weeks. Then they will determine if the bil;e can flow freely itself thru the tube if not a new drainage tube will be put in. Sometimes there is a bag at the end that needs to be emptied (bile bag) but eventually that comes off at least it did for me. It is changed frequently to prevent infection. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. > > Hello, > > Does anyone know anything about the drainage tubes they use to clear > your CBD out if the ERCP's aren't working? I'm looking for more > information on them and can't seem to figure out even what they hook up > to what and for how long... > > -Suzanne > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 I currently have a bilarly draincge tube. It has been in for almost 6 weeks. Then they will determine if the bil;e can flow freely itself thru the tube if not a new drainage tube will be put in. Sometimes there is a bag at the end that needs to be emptied (bile bag) but eventually that comes off at least it did for me. It is changed frequently to prevent infection. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. > > Hello, > > Does anyone know anything about the drainage tubes they use to clear > your CBD out if the ERCP's aren't working? I'm looking for more > information on them and can't seem to figure out even what they hook up > to what and for how long... > > -Suzanne > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 Suzanne, I had my drainage tubes (all three of them) after my liver transplant in 2006. The drains went through the three donated bile ducts that my husband gave me in our living donor surgery. The procedure that they use to put them in with his called a PTC. (The long version is something like Percutaneous Transhepatic Cholangiogram.) They make a small incision in your abdomen and then insert the tube through your liver and into your bile duct(s). Once the drain is in place, the bile that has been backing up drains out of your body through the tube into a bag that you wear. Mine were gravity drains, so I wore urinary cath. bags on my legs to collect the bile. I had 13 PTC's over six months in an attempt to get my bile ducts to stay open. So far, they've done okay and not closed back down since we removed the drains. Once the ducts were open, they left the tube in for a while with the drain capped so that the bile was draining normally inside me using the tube to keep it open. Prior to tx, my doctors (I was listed at three transplant centers) wouldn't do this because of the risk of infection, the scarring that your body undergoes, and because they didn't want to lower my MELD score so much that I couldn't get a liver. (My elevated bilirubin was the highest part of my MELD.) So, after my ERCP's stopped working, I just waited for a tx. I had the advice of three different centers not to do a PTC prior to tx. Based on my own experience, if they're talking about doing this, I would definately get a second opinion. Having the tubes was one of the hardest things I've been through, and I've been through a lot on this PSC journey. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, let us know... Deb in VA PSC 1998, Gall Bladder removed 1998, UC 1999, Listed Ltx 2001, 12 ERCP's 1998-2005, LDLTX 5/19/2005, Partial Portal Vein Thrombosis 7/2005, 13 PTC's with drain placements/replacements 9/2005-3/2006, 3 sinus surgeries in 2006, 3 intestinal bleeds from varicies caused by clot in portal vein 2006-2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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