Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, endoscopic papillary balloon dilation, and laparoscopic hepatectomy for intra- and extrahepatic bile duct stones.

BACKGROUND

Intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile duct stones (BDSs) have a high rate of residual stones, a high risk of recurrence, and a high rate of reoperation. It is very important to take timely and effective surgical intervention for patients.

AIM

To analyze the efficacy, postoperative rehabilitation, and quality of life (QoL) of patients with intra- and extrahepatic BDSs treated with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) + endoscopic papillary balloon dilation (EPBD) + laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH).

METHODS

This study selected 114 cases of intra- and extrahepatic BDSs from April 2021 to April 2024, consisting of 55 cases in the control group receiving laparoscopic common bile duct exploration and LH and 59 cases in the observation group treated with ERCP + EPBD + LH. Efficacy, surgical indicators [operation time (OT) and intraoperative blood loss (IBL)], postoperative rehabilitation (time for body temperature to return to normal, time for pain relief, and time for drainage to reduce jaundice), hospital stay, medical expenses, and QoL [Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI)] were comparatively analyzed. Further, Logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze factors influencing the QoL of patients with intra- and extrahepatic BDSs.

RESULTS

The data demonstrated a higher overall effective rate in the observation group compared to the control group ( = 0.011), together with notably reduced OT, less IBL, shorter body temperature recovery time, pain relief time, time for drainage to reduce jaundice, and hospital stay (all < 0.05). The postoperative GIQLI of the observation group was more significantly increased compared to the control group ( < 0.05). The two groups demonstrated no marked difference in medical expenses ( > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The above indicates that ERCP + EPBD + LH is effective in treating patients with intra- and extrahepatic BDSs, which is conducive to postoperative rehabilitation and QoL improvement, with promising prospects for clinical promotion.