Endoscopic lithotripsy for bile duct stones.

Endoscopic sphincterotomy and common duct stone extraction is successful in 85-90% of patients using conventional balloons and baskets. However, most patients with biliary stones > 2 cm will require mechanical, electrohydraulic, or laser lithotripsy prior to stone extraction. Mechanical lithotripsy is inexpensive, easy to perform, and effective in 80-90% of cases. Most failures result from inability to entrap the stone in the lithotripsy basket. These cases may be successfully treated using either electrohydraulic or laser lithotripsy (intraductal shockwave lithotripsy). In most cases, intraductal shockwave lithotripsy requires direct visual control. Due to difficulty with peroral cholangioscopy, these techniques will not be widely used until a smaller, more maneuverable "mother and baby scope" system is developed. We recommend mechanical lithotripsy as the initial treatment for large biliary stones. Failed cases should be referred to specialized centers for a repeat attempt with intraductal shockwave lithotripsy. With this approach, an experienced endoscopist is successful in removing biliary stones in over 95% of patients. Long term biliary stenting remains a viable option for the high risk patients with large common bile duct stones.