Laparoscopy + choledochoscopy for extrahepatic biliary stones

  Laparoscopic technology originated in the 1980s, and in 1987 French doctors performed the first successful laparoscopic cholecystectomy, opening a new era of laparoscopic surgery. At present, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has become the “gold standard” for gallbladder removal, with the advantages of “less trauma, faster recovery, smaller surgical scars and shorter hospital stay”, which are well known to patients.  Can minimally invasive surgery be performed for gallbladder stones combined with common bile duct stones?  The answer is yes. Recently, our department has successfully carried out laparoscopy + choledochoscopy for common bile duct exploration and stone extraction + cholecystectomy with good results. We free the cystic duct under laparoscopy, cut through the cystic duct, place a choledochoscope with a mesh basket to remove the distal stones of the common bile duct, and then remove the gallbladder; if the cystic duct is too thin or the local inflammation is heavy, the common bile duct can be cut under laparoscopy, and the same choledochoscope is placed with a mesh basket to remove the distal stones of the common bile duct, and a “T” tube is left in the common bile duct and fixed with sutures. Then the gallbladder is removed. This technique can remove the gallbladder and treat the common bile duct stones under laparoscopy at the same time, achieving the purpose of minimally invasive treatment, and also avoiding the complications such as long treatment period, easy complication of acute pancreatitis, and easy occurrence of reflux cholangitis after the destruction of duodenal papilla function in the treatment mode of removing the common bile duct stones by duodenoscopy and then laparoscopic removal of gallbladder. It is currently the preferred treatment option for patients with gallbladder stones combined with common bile duct stones.