Newly developed plastic stent delivery system for endoscopic ultrasonography-guided gallbladder drainage: Experiments on gallbladder models

Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided gallbladder drainage (EUS-GBD) using the current plastic stent (PS) system requires multiple steps for stent deployment and carries the risk of bile leakage from the puncture site. In this study, we developed a single-step PS system that includes a 3F electrocautery metal tip on the inner sheath mounted with a 7F/4-cm double-pigtail PS and experimentally evaluated it on a gallbladder model mimicking EUS-GBD. We assessed procedure time, intra-gallbladder pressure-drop ratios, and bile leakage using a newly developed single-step PS system, comparing it with the current PS system during drainage attempts on a gallbladder model. Mean duration times for the three attempts were 2 minutes 59 seconds and 27 seconds for the current PS system and the newly developed PS system groups, respectively (P < 0.001). Mean intra-gallbladder pressure-drop ratios were 86.7% in the current PS system group and 7.6% in the newly developed PS system group (P < 0.001). The newly developed PS system prevented bile leakage from the puncture site. The newly developed PS system saved significant time, maintained intra-gallbladder pressure, and prevented bile leakage during the procedure when compared with the current PS system.