Clinical trial on the cost-effectiveness of T-tube use in an established deceased donor liver transplantation program

The aim of our study was to assess the advantages and disadvantages of T-tube use in liver transplantation, with also paying attention to the economic costs derived from its use. Patients were prospectively randomized to T tube or no T tube. One hundred and seven patients, 53 with T tube and 54 without T tube, were analyzed. Minimum follow-up was three months. Nine patients (8.4%) had bile leak: six in the T-tube group (11.3%) and three in the group without T tube (5.5%), p = ns. Four patients (3.5%) had anastomotic biliary stenosis: one in the T-tube group (1.8%) and three in the group without T tube, p = ns. Twenty of the 53 patients (37.7%) with T tube had T-tube-related complication. The number of diagnostic and therapeutic resources were higher in the T-tube group compared with non-T tube (81 and 17 vs. 18 and 10, respectively, p <0.05). The costs of therapeutic procedures required for the treatment of complications were 28 232 euro in the T-tube group vs. 16 088 euro in the no T-tube group, p <0.05. In conclusion, the systematic use of the T tube in biliary reconstruction in liver transplantation cannot be justified.