Common bile duct stones after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and its treatment. The role of ultrasound and intravenous and intraoperative cholangiography.

In the present work we recount our experience in handling common bile duct stones (CBDS) in our first 100 cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In the first 50 cases our diagnostic procedures involved the use of ultrasound exploration and intravenous cholangiotomography 48 h before laparoscopic surgery. We found three cases of residual CBDS. One of the cases was treated by means of ERCP. The other two cases were resolved by carrying out a transparietohepatic cholangiography after the ERCP procedure failed. After this experience, we changed our strategy, introducing the intraoperative cholangiography in the cases with an unclear diagnosis. With this new approach, no residual CBDS occurred in the following 50 cases. These findings demonstrate the following: (1) In our hands, intravenous cholangiography is not more effective than ultrasound exploration in resolving dubious cases. (2) These dubious cases are more effectively diagnosed by means of selective intraoperative cholangiography. (3) When CBDS is treated by transparietohepatic cholangiography it proves to be less uncomfortable for the patient than ERCP and, as we found, even more efficient in removing the stones, although our experience is based on only two cases.