Medical management and endoscopic biliary stenting associated with improved outcomes compared with surgery for extrahepatic biliary duct obstructions in dogs.

Medical management and ERC-assisted biliary stenting improve survival and reduce complications in dogs with EHBO compared to surgery.

This retrospective study evaluated the outcomes of three treatment modalities for extrahepatic biliary duct obstruction (EHBO) in dogs: medical management, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC)-assisted biliary stenting, and surgical biliary decompression. The study included 28 client-owned dogs diagnosed with EHBO between 2012 and 2019. The dogs were divided into three groups based on their treatment: 10 received medical management, 12 underwent ERC-assisted biliary stenting, and 6 had surgical intervention. The primary outcomes assessed were survival to discharge, median survival time, and complication rates. All dogs in the medical management group survived to discharge, while 92% of the ERC group and 33% of the surgical group survived. The median survival time was not reached in the medical and ERC groups, indicating prolonged survival, whereas the surgical group had a median survival time of 4 days. ERC-assisted biliary stenting achieved technical success in 86% of cases and was associated with a lower complication rate compared to surgery. The study concluded that medical management and ERC-assisted biliary stenting are associated with improved short- and long-term survival rates and fewer complications compared to surgical intervention for dogs with EHBO. These findings suggest that, when feasible, medical management and ERC-assisted biliary stenting may offer safer and more effective alternatives to surgery for managing EHBO in dogs.

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