Journal of Gastrointestinal & Digestive System
Open Access

Review Article

The Role of Endoscopy in the Management of Cholangiocarcinoma

Giacomin D^1*, Fasoli R¹, Tasini E¹, Ciarleglio F², Brolese A² and de Pretis G¹

¹Department of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy, Trento, Italy

²Department of Surgery, HPB unit, Trento, Italy

*Corresponding Author:

Davide Giacomin
S.Chiara Hospital, Gastroenterology Largo medaglie d'oro
Trento, Trento 38122, Italy
Tel: +390461903954
E-mail: davide.giacomin@apss.tn.it

Received date: September 24, 2014; Accepted date: December 21, 2014; Published date: December 26, 2014

Citation: Giacomin D, Fasoli R, Tasini E, Ciarleglio F, Brolese A, et al. (2014) The Role of Endoscopy in the Management of Cholangiocarcinoma. J Gastrointest Dig Syst 4:248. doi:10.4172/2161-069X.1000248

Copyright: © 2014 Giacomin D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Cholangiocarcinoma is a complex disease, in most cases unresectable at the diagnosis. The cornerstone of management is biliary drainage. The endoscopic approach, in particular, is the treatment of choice both preoperatively and in the forms that require palliation. It makes use of a wide range of stents: plastic, metal self-expanding, bare, covered. Complicated hilar strictures require appropriate work-up, technical skill, strategy. Photodynamic therapy has proved to offer significant advantages in terms of survival and quality of life and favorable results as neo-adjuvant and adjuvant therapy against a discrete tolerability and fewer side effects than chemotherapy.

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