Can endoscopy be used instead of surgical methods to remove bile duct stones?

  In recent years, due to the advancement of technology and medical technology, endoscopy has been more and more widely used in the medical field, which can access the organs in the human body to check or treat various diseases through various tubes without opening the chest and abdomen.  Endoscopic treatment of stones is one of the new therapies that can remove gallstones without surgery, namely endoscopic duodenal papillotomy for stone extraction. In this method, a fiberoptic duodenoscope is sent into the stomach through the mouth, and the duodenum is reached through the pylorus. When the catheter is powered on, the electrocutting and electrocoagulation of the wire at the front end can cut the papillary sphincter, thus enlarging the opening of the lower end of the common bile duct in the duodenum, and the smaller stones in the common bile duct will flow into the duodenum on their own with the bile. For larger stones, a lithotripsy mesh can be placed into the common bile duct through the duodenoscope and then removed.  In addition, the treatment of bile duct stones with laser lithotripsy or high-pressure fluid lithotripsy under direct vision through the oral choledochoscope can achieve better results. These have saved patients who used to be operated on from painful surgery, especially for patients who are not suitable for surgery or cannot tolerate surgery, such as old and frail patients, and patients with high risk of surgery.