ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Common bile duct stones are the most common among bile duct diseases. In the past, common bile duct stones were considered a surgically operable disease, but is now considered a medical disease due to the advancement of endoscopy and endoscopic techniques. The aim of this study was to determine the results of endoscopic treatment of common bile duct stones. METHODS: Removal of primary or secondary common bile duct stones were attempted by peroral or percutaneous endoscopy. The common bile duct stones were diagnosed by ultrasonography or cholangiography. As a primary approach route, the peroral transpapillary endoscopic approach was tried. On the other hand, percutaneous common bile duct stone removal was attempted if the patient already had a percutaneous route, peroral transpapillary approaches failed, or if conditions for endoscopy were unfavorable. RESULTS: The study subjects consisted of 196 patients; 96 males and 100 females. The mean age was 61.8 years. A total of 272 endoscopic stone removal were attempted in 196 patients. Of the 272, peroral approaches were conducted 241 times for 183 patients, and percutaneous approaches were performed 31 times for 12 patients. The success rate of the first treatment modality to remove the common bile duct stones was 90.3% (176/195). The overall success rate of endoscopic common bile duct stones removal was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: In all patients, the common bile duct stones were removed successfully by endoscopy, and thus supporting the shift of recognizing common bile duct stones as a medical rather than surgical discase.