Laparoscopic treatment of known choledocholithiasis

Background: Occasionally patients represent to the surgeon with known common duct stones. These will frequently have been detected by imaging modalities: ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) scans, transhepatic cholangiogram (THC) or IV cholangiography. Occasionally there are stones that had failed attempts at endoscopic retrieval (ERCP). Methods: A retrospective analysis of a prospectively gathered database of 77 laparoscopic common bile duct explorations was done to assess the incidence, treatments and outcomes of patients who had known common duct stones (CDS) before surgery. Results: Eighteen patients (23%) were identified as having a preoperative diagnosis of CDS. All underwent a laparoscopic common bile duct exploration. This exploration was successful in all cases. Outcomes were good with a 4% complication rate and one case of retained common duct stones (4%). Conclusions: Before laparoscopic cholecystectomy, known choledocholithiasis was considered a surgical disease except in cases of acute cholangitis or the very morbidly ill. The ability to perform cholecystectomy laparoscopically made many practitioners avoid open common duct exploration and, instead, rely on ERCP as primary treatment for known or suspected common duct stones. As techniques of laparoscopic common duct exploration improve, the ability to deal with common duct pathology surgically has increased, offering new options for treatment of this patient population. We present our experience with 18 patients who presented with known choledocholithiasis and were treated laparoscopically with good results.