BACKGROUND: Hepatolithiasis is very common in East Asia. It is benign in nature, but has a high recurrence rate. It is likely to lead to biliary cirrhosis and increase the risk of cholangiocarcinoma. Hence, the treatment of hepatolithiasis is difficult but vital. In this report, we present a novel approach to manage hepatolithiasis using the choledochoscopic Frequency-Doubled Double pulse Nd:YAG (FREDDY) laser lithotripsy combined with or without hepatectomy.
METHODS: Between July 2009 and October 2012, 45 patients underwent choledochoscopic FREDDY laser lithotripsy combined with or without hepatectomy (laser lithotripsy group). Forty-eight patients underwent a traditional operation (traditional method group) from January 2009 to June 2009. Comparative analysis was made of demographic and clinical characteristics of the two groups.
RESULTS: The final stone clearance rate of the laser lithotripsy group was 93.3%, whereas that of the traditional method group was 85.4% (P=0.22). In the laser lithotripsy group, 2 patients experienced hemobilia and 3 patients had acute cholangitis. In the traditional method group, 3 patients had intraoperative hemorrhage, 1 patient had bile leakage, 6 patients had acute cholangitis, and 1 patient died of liver failure. Moreover, the operative time in the traditional method group was significantly longer than that in the laser lithotripsy group (P=0.01). The mean hospital stay of the patients in the traditional method group was longer than that in the laser lithotripsy group (9.8 vs 8.2 days, P=0.17). Recurrent intrahepatic bile duct stones were not found during the follow-up period in the two groups.
CONCLUSION: Operative choledochoscopic FREDDY laser lithotripsy combined with or without hepatectomy may be an effective and safe treatment for hepatolithiasis.