Advances in endoscopic therapy for difficult common bile duct stones / 临床肝胆病杂志

Common bile duct stones (CBDSs) are a common biliary tract disease, and endoscopic therapy is the first-line treatment modality for this disease; however, some CBDSs are difficult to remove by conventional endoscopic techniques and are thus called difficult CBDSs. Therapies for difficult CBDSs include endoscopic papillary large balloon dilation, mechanical lithotripsy, choledochoscopy-assisted lithotripsy, and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. This article reviews the advances in the above mentioned techniques for the treatment of difficult CBDSs, including indications, clinical effect, and adverse events.