Preoperative percutaneous transhepatic internal drainage in obstructive jaundice: a randomized, controlled trial examining renal function.

Thirty patients with obstructive jaundice with plasma bilirubin values greater than 200 mumol/L were randomized at the time of percutaneous transhepatic Cholangiography to undergo immediate or delayed surgery. The patients who had preoperative percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) for 13.8 +/- 5.