Endoscopic sphincterotomy for common bile duct calculi in patients without stones in the gallbladder.

Endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) was performed in 25 patients for common bile duct (CBD) calculi in the absence of stones in the gallbladder. Eighteen of these patients were considered unfit for surgery because of age or concomitant disease. All ES procedures were technically successful with complete evacuation of the CBD in all cases. Early complications occurred in only one patient, a 91-year-old female who died from nonbiliary tract disease. Long-term follow up over a period of 42 months was available in 19 of the 24 patients. Late complications occurred in two patients (10%), both of whom developed cholecystitis; they underwent surgery without subsequent morbidity or mortality. This 10% incidence of long-term complications is similar to that of other series that did not differentiate between patients with isolated CBD calculi and those with stones also present in the gallbladder. The observed complication rate does not justify routine prophylactic cholecystectomy after ES for isolated CBD stones.