Common bile duct stones, an experience in Ondokuz Mayis University

Common bile duct stones, obstructive jaundice, cholangitis and acute pancreatitis are diseases that can lead to serious complications. In our clinic between May 1993 and October 2011 the results of 101 patients who underwent surgery for common bile duct stone were retrospectively evaluated. Among 101 patients who were included in the study, 45 had symptomatic gallstones accompanied by common bile duct stone, 27 had mechanical icterus, 15 had common bile duct stone and 8 had cholangitis (five patients with suppurative cholangitis), six had acute cholecystitis. Thirthy one patients with common bile duct stones were treated with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Surgical procedures were as follows; choledochoduodenostomy in 50 cases, T-tube drainage in 17 patients and transduodenal sphincteroplasty in three patients. Synchronous cholecystectomies were performed in all patients who had not undergone biliary surgery before. Early postoperative mortality was 3.9%. In this study, we detected choledocholithiasis in 11.31% of the all symptomatic cholelithiasis cases. Since our clinic provide tertiary healthcare, this rate becomes 9.85% by excluding those who underwent cholecystectomy for common bile duct stones at other hospitals. Given that the patients who referred to our clinic are in high-risk group, the actual rate of choledocholithiasis in our society is expected to be slightly below that value.