For residual biliary stones, washing of the biliary tract with saline, heparinized saline or solvent agents has been used, but it has not been very effective.
We obtained good results in extraction of residual biliary stones by using a cholangioscope postoperatively.
Thirty-one patients with residual biliary stones (11 with choledocholithiasis, and 20 with hepaticolithiasis) have been treated by cholangioscopic extraction.
We succeeded in the extraction in 90.9% of the patients with common bile duct stones, and 90.0 % of the patients with intrahepatic bile duct stones.
In the treatment for hepaticolithiasis, we usually cannot remove all of the stones at the time of the operation, so that we have to perform a convenient operation in order to remove the stones postoperatively.
Our operation, transjejunal intubation to the intrahepatic bile duct with a Silicon tube (over 7mm) through the choledochojejunostomy, is one of the most effective and safest procedures for the postoperative cholangioscopic extraction of residual biliary stones.
