Successful retrieval of an impacted mechanical lithotripsy basket: a case report

We report the successful retrieval of an impacted mechanical lithotripsy basket. In a patient with two large common bile duct stones, the basket with the entrapped stone was impacted within the mid-common bile duct. We then attempted to use another mechanical lithotripter; however the central wire of the basket fractured at the handle portion. Grasping a few wires of the impacted basket with rat-tooth forceps allowed the wires of the basket to slip away from the stone. The present report describes the safe and effective use of rat-tooth forceps in the management of an impacted lithotripter basket.