Abstract: Objective: To explore the clinical application of improved percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage(PTBD) in treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice.Methods: The clinical data of 116 cases of malignant obstructive jaundice were analyzed retrospectively.Improved PTBD was carried out for all the patients including 37 cases of pancreatic head carcinoma,23 cases of ampulla carcinoma,30 cases of hilar cholangiocarcinoma and 26 cases of metastatic carcinoma.Results: The improved PTBD was successful in 113 patients(97.4%).Among them,the PTBD tube was placed in the common hepatic duct in 42 cases,in the right hepatic duct in 44 cases,in the left hepatic duct in 22 cases and in both the left and the right hepatic duct in 5 cases.The signs of jaundice,skin itch,mode and appetite were greatly improved one week after the operation.The serum bilirubin decreased from 101.2-592.8 μmol/L to 24.9-278.3 μmol/L one week after the treatment.No severe complications were observed.Conclusions: The improved PTBD proves to be safe and effective for treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice,and it makes the further treatment possible.