Biliary plastic stent as a matrix core for lithogenesis in the common bile duct: a rare cause of jaundice

The obstruction of the main bile duct by a foreign body, followed by lithogenesis at that level, is rarely encountered in the literature especially when the foreign body is a plastic biliary stent. We have not found referrals concerning the stone formation as a complication at the level of a biliary stent.

A 59-year-old female patient was referred with abdominal pain and jaundice. The patient had had a biliary prosthesis inserted 42 months earlier for treatment of biliary stenosis and fistula, complications that occurred after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Imaging investigations evidenced the presence of obstructive jaundice and the biliary stent with gall stones adherent on its surface. After the failure of an endoscopic extraction attempt, surgical intervention ensured the removal of the stent and the gallstones formed on its surface.

The particularity of the case consists of the rarity of such a complication after biliary stenting. At the same time, it emphasizes the need for postoperative follow-up, in order to avoid this kind of complication, potentially fatal.