Monooctanoin infusion and stone removal through the transparenchymal tract: use in 17 patients.

Seventeen patients underwent monooctanoin infusion and biliary stone removal through the percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage tract. In the first five patients, monooctanoin was infused until the stone(s) became smaller or disappeared; basket extraction was not attempted until this reduction was observed. An average of 22 hospital days was required for the procedure. In the next 12 patients, basket extraction was attempted after as few as 3 days of infusion, without waiting for a reduction in stone size. After infusion, these stones became extremely friable, fragmented easily, and were atraumatically removed through the fresh liver tract. The average hospital stay for these patients was 7 days, with no complications. The ability of monooctanoin to soften some stones allows an earlier, more aggressive approach to stone removal through the transparenchymal tract without risk of soft-tissue laceration; use of the infusion significantly decreases the hospital stay.