Experience with and complications of postoperative choledochofiberscopy for retained biliary stones

Biliary calculi retained after choledochotomy were removed from 66 patients by means of the Olympus fiberoptic choledochoscope via a T-tube tract. The stones were lodged in the common bile duct in 18 of the patients and in the intrahepatic ducts in 48 patients. Complete removal of the retained stones was achieved from the common bile duct in 16 cases and from the intrahepatic ducts in 38. No further measures were necessary in these patients. The complication rate of choledochofiberscopy was low. Of the total 218 endoscopies, 8 were followed by abdominal pain, 6 by chills and fever and 2 by bleeding from the fistula tract. A duodenocutaneous fistula developed in one patient. Postoperative choledochofiberscopy is a useful and effective method for the management of retained biliary calculi.