Management of retained bile duct stones: a prospective open trial comparing extracorporeal and intracorporeal lithotripsy.

Abstract Background: Endoscopic management of common bile duct stones has become the approach of choice, especially in patients with high surgical risk. Problems are encountered if there are large stones or a duct stenosis. For these difficult stones, shock wave technology serves as an alternative to surgical intervention. Methods: A total of 125 patients with common bile duct stones in whom conventional endoscopic treatment had failed were selected and treated either by extracorporeal piezoelectric lithotripsy (ESWL, n=79) or intracorporeal electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL, n=46). The average age of our patients was 70 years. Results: In the ESWL group visualization of the stones by ultra…