Abstract
Acute cholangitis presents with a wide severity spectrum and can rapidly deteriorate
from local infection to multiorgan failure and fatal sepsis. The pathophysiology,
diagnosis, and general management principles will be discussed in this review article.
The focus of this article will be on the role of biliary drainage performed by interventional
radiology to manage acute cholangitis. There are specific scenarios where percutaneous
drainage should be preferred over endoscopic drainage. Percutaneous transhepatic and
transjejunal biliary drainage are both options available to interventional radiology.
Additionally, interventional radiology is now able to manage these patients beyond
providing acute biliary drainage including cholangioplasty, stenting, and percutaneous
cholangioscopy/biopsy.
Keywords
acute cholangitis - percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography - biliary drainage
