Successful cholangioscopic electrocoagulation for biliary papillomatosis: Report covering six cases (with video)

Background: Biliary papillomatosis is a rare type of papillomatosis. Depending on the location of the disease, radical surgical resection or liver transplants are the treatment of choice. These radical surgical options may be unrealistic in patients who are not surgical candidates or who are unwilling to consider surgery. Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of endoscopic electrocoagulation for the biliary papillomatosis. Methods: In this case series, we report six patients with unresectable biliary papillomatosis who underwent cholangioscopic electrocoagulation using needle knife and their clinic follow up information. Results: After patients received cholangioscopy with electrocoagulation of the residual biliary papilloma, the daily T-tube drainage volume increased to 200–400 ml with improvement in the drainage content and significant relief of clinical symptoms, such as jaundice and abdominal pain. Conclusion: This method of using electrocoagulation to directly target and destroy tumor tissue is a safe and effective alternative for those with unresectable disease, and this method has shown to enhance T-tube drainage volume and improve patients’ overall clinical symptoms.