Asymptomatic common bile duct stones.

Patients with asymptomatic bile duct stones exhibit typical signs, such as elevated liver function tests, dilated bile ducts on ultrasound, a history of jaundice, or pancreatitis. The incidence of asymptomatic bile duct stones is about 10%, but up to 2% of patients show no signs of the disease. Bile duct stones can be diagnosed by using clinical judgement, scoring systems, or discriminant function tests. Which diagnostic modality is most reliable, cost-effective and safe, varies with different hospitals. Which therapy is most effective, safe and the cheapest also varies with different departments, but in the future an increasing number of departments will use the one-stage laparoscopic approach.