[12 years of endoscopic stone removal]

All 583 attempts at endoscopic clearance of biliary calculi, performed in the Gastrointestinal Unit, Inselspital Bern, were retrospectively analyzed from 1980 until 1991. The average age of the patients was 70; 56% were female and 44% male. In 1980, 26 ERCPs for bile duct stone removal were performed, whereas in 1991 the number had increased to 90. The substantial increase in 1991 occurred after introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Over the total period of 12 years all stones were removed endoscopically after papillotomy in 82%, while the success rate in 1991 was 90%. Morbidity was 5.4% and lethality 0.2%. Total morbidity did not change markedly. However, the number of severe complications requiring surgical repair was reduced from 1.7% between 1980 and 1986 to 0% between 1987 and 1991. These results suggest that endoscopic removal of bile duct stones is increasingly performed with high success and low complication rates.