FLUOROSCOPICALLY GUIDED LASER LITHOTRIPSY VERSUS EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCK-WAVE LITHOTRIPSY FOR RETAINED BILE-DUCT STONES - A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED STUDY

Background and aims-To compare extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy ( ESWL) and laser induced shock wave lithotripsy (LISL) of retained bile duct stones to stone free rate, number of therapeutic sessions, and c osts. Patients-Thirty four patients were randomly assigned to either E SWL or LISL therapy. The main reasons for failure of standard endoscop y were due to stone impaction (n = 12), biliary stricture (n = 8), or large stone diameter (n = 14).Methods-An extracorporeal piezoelectric lithotripter with ultrasonic guidance and a rhodamine 6G laser with an integrated stone tissue detection system were used. LISL was performe d exclusively under radiological control. Results-Using the initial me thods complete stone fragmentation was achieved in nine of 17 patients (52.4%) of the ESWL group and in 14 of 17 patients (82.4%) in the LIS L group, or combined with additional fragmentation techniques 31 of th e 34 patients (91.2%) were stone free at the end of treatment. In comp arison LISL tended to be more efficient in clearing the bile ducts (p = 0.07, NS). Significantly less fragmentation sessions (1.29 v 2.82; p = 0.0001) and less additional endoscopic sessions (0.65 v 1.5; p = 0. 002) were necessary in the LISL group. There were no major complicatio ns in either procedure. Conclusions-Compared with ESWL, fluoroscopical ly guided LISL achieves stone disintegration more rapidly and with sig nificantly less treatment sessions, which leads to a significant reduc tion in cost.