The first successful endoscopic retrograde laser lithotripsy of common bile duct stones in man using a pulsed neodymium-YAG laser.

Lumen-filling calculi in the common bile duct are frequently inaccessible to endoscopic treatment. With the aid of a flash lamp pulsed Nd:YAG laser, endoscopic retrograde lithotripsy of such calculi has now been successfully accomplished for the first time in man.