Treatment for Jaundice

Jaundice is a condition in which a person's skin or whites of the eyes have a yellow discoloration. A person with jaundice may also have dark urine and light stool. Jaundice occurs when bilirubin, a substance produced by the liver, builds up in the blood. Normally, bilirubin travels from the liver down the bile duct and passes through the pancreas just before emptying into the first section of the small intestine, called the duodenum. If a tumor blocks the bile duct, bilirubin backs up into the liver, then spills into the blood. This causes a person to become noticeably yellow, or jaundiced.

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Jaundice can usually be relieved by placing a small tube called a biliary stent into the bile duct to hold it open. The stent is placed using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), a procedure in which a flexible telescope called an endoscope is inserted in the mouth, through the stomach, and into the first part of the small intestine. There, tiny tools are passed through the endoscope to deploy the stent.

Jaundiced patients who have a biliary stent placed in their bile duct are at risk for an infection if the stent becomes blocked. A patient who has a biliary stent needs emergency treatment if he or she develops a fever (100°F or greater) or a return of jaundice.