What are bile duct stones?

  We have been very busy on the ward lately with a lot of patients treated by endoscopy. 14 cases of ERCP were done last week, mainly bile duct stones, but also patients with bile duct tumors and bile duct inflammatory strictures who had stents placed. More than a dozen patients have recovered well and were discharged this week. In retrospect, most of these patients with bile duct stones are from the northern part of Jiangsu Province, which may be related to the local diet or poor water intake. ERCP is the highest level of endoscopic treatment, the most difficult and the most beneficial, but there are also more complications and serious complications, but recently there are more patients and less complications than before, probably due to the improvement of technology and the update of equipment. Many patients who used to need surgery can solve their problems through endoscopic treatment without surgery, which solves the problem and reduces the pain, which is the great development of endoscopic treatment in this decade and is also the gospel of the majority of patients.