ERCP was undertaken predominantly with benzodiazepine and opioid sedation. General anesthesia was used when per-oral cholangioscopy (POC) (SpyGlassTMDS, Boston Scientific, MA, United States) was performed.
ERCP was performed using side-viewing endoscopes (TJF-240; Olympus Optical Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). Standard wire guided EST was performed for native papilla. Stone extraction was attempted with extractor balloon catheter (ExtractorTM Pro RX, 2 lumen extraction balloon, Boston Scientific, Cork, Ireland and/or Multi-3V PlusTM, three lumen extraction balloon, Olympus Medical systems, Tokyo, Japan) and/or wire guided retrieval basket (TrapezoidTM, Boston Scientific Limited, Ireland).
Where stone retrieval was unsuccessful with standard techniques, EPLBD (CRETM Wire guided, Boston Scientific, Cork, Ireland) was performed for stone extraction. The balloon was inflated until disappearance of the waist (Figure 1). For complex and large stones, POC supplemented with electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) (Nortech Autolith, Intracorporeal Electrohydraulic Lithotripter, Northgate Technologies INC, IL, United States) was used for stone extraction. Duct clearance was confirmed with an occlusion cholangiogram. Stone number, size and bile duct diameter were assessed with calibrated hospital radiology software tools on captured fluoroscopic images for accurate precision.
Aujla U.I., Ladep N., Dwyer L., Hood S., Stern N, & Sturgess R. (2017). Endoscopic papillary large balloon dilatation with sphincterotomy is safe and effective for biliary stone removal independent of timing and size of sphincterotomy. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 23(48), 8597-8604.