Long-term prognosis after treatment of patients with choledocholithiasis

This study was conducted to examine the long-term prognosis of after treatment of patients with choledocholithiasis, including the recurrence of lithiasis, and to thereby determine the best treatment modality for choledocholithiasis based on its pathological entity.

Choledocholithiasis can be caused by either primary bile duct stones that originate in the bile duct or by secondary bile duct stones that have fallen out of the gallbladder. The recurrence rates vary depending on the type of choledocholithiasis.

Two-hundred thirteen outpatients who were treated for choledocholithiasis from 1982 to 1996 were selected as subjects and monitored for a period ranging from 5 to 19 years (mean, 9.6 years). The 213 patients were divided into 3 groups: 87 patients who had undergone choledocholithotomy and T-tube drainage (including the use of the laparoscopic method), 44 patients who had undergone choledochoduodenostomy, and 82 patients whose stones were removed by endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST). Recurrence of lithiasis was examined for each type of treatment modality.

Choledochoduodenostomy was performed in 44 cases for the purpose of preventing any recurrence. The recurrent rate was analyzed in 169 cases. Choledocholithiasis recurred in 17 of the 169 cases (10.1%). The remaining 152 patients that showed no recurrence of lithiasis were examined and compared. The diameter of the common bile duct measured during the initial treatment was more dilated in patients with recurrent lithiasis (16.6 +/- 5.9 mm) than in patients without any recurrence (9.8 +/- 4.9 mm; P < 0.05). Peripapillary diverticula were observed in 10 of the 17 patients with recurrent lithiasis (58.8%), and in 34 of the 152 nonrecurrent patients (22.3%), showing that diverticula were more common in recurrent cases (P < 0.05). Furthermore, while primary bile duct stones were found in 11 of the 17 cases with recurrent lithiasis (64.7%), primary stones were found in only 37 of the 152 nonrecurrent patients (24.3%), showing primary bile duct stones were also more common in recurrent patients (P < 0.05). The recurrent patients were examined by surgical procedure. Nine patients with choledocholithotomy and T-tube drainage had a recurrence (10.3%), and 8 patients in the EST group had a recurrence (9.8%). The recurrence rates for these procedures were higher than for cases with choledochoduodenostomy (recurrence rate: 0%, P < 0.05). In particular, lithiasis recurred in 5 of the 12 patients with T-tube drainage for primary bile duct stones (41.7%).

Although choledocholithotomy and T-tube drainage, including open and laparoscopic surgery, is presently a common procedure for choledocholithiasis, this procedure will not necessarily prevent a recurrence of the disease. For older patients with primary bile duct stones, choledochoduodenostomy or EST is recommended.