The outcomes of biliary drainage by percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography for the palliation of malignant biliary obstruction in England between 2001 and 2014: a retrospective cohort study.

In patients undergoing PTBD for the palliation of malignant biliary obstruction, 30-day mortality was high at 23.1%. Mortality was higher in older patients, men, those with increasing comorbidity, a cancer site other than pancreas and at 'lower-volume' PTBD providers.