Selective endoscopic retrograde cholangiography prior to laparoscopic cholecystectomy for gallstones

To assess the outcome of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) before laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for symptomatic gallbladder and suspected duct stones.

During 3 years, one or more of four criteria led to ERC: jaundice, choledocus >8 mm, cholestasis, and severe biliary pancreatitis. Endoscopic extraction (ESE) of ductal stones was attempted before LC.

In all, 990 patients were prospectively included. There were no exclusions. There were no deaths. A multivariate logistic regression analysis identified jaundice (P = 0.001), pancreatitis (P = 0.001), and cholestasis (P = 0.001) as statistically significant predictors of ductal stones. Choledocus >8 mm was not a significant predictor (P = 0.12). A total of 155 (16%) patients underwent ERC for suspected stones: 21 of 155 (13%) patients had no stones; and 6 of 134 (4%) patients had stone impaction cleared at open surgery. ERC clearance rate was 95% (128 of 134). LC was performed in 149 of 155 patients after a median interval of 3 days (range 1 to 7). Morbidity rates were 3% (4 of 134), 2% (3 of 149), and nil (0 of 6) after ESE, LC, or open surgery, respectively. Median hospital stay was 11 days. A total of 835 patients underwent LC with a 1.5% complication rate. Laparoscopic fluoro-cholangiography showed < or =3 mm-sized stones in 10 of 835 (1.2%) patients. No stones were reported at a median follow-up of 4 months including 990 patients.

Ninety-five percent of patients with ductal stones can be successfully and safely managed by ERC prior to LC.