pubmed-article:14975967 | pubmed:abstractText | Our study describes the percutaneous expulsion of bile duct calculi into the duodenum by dilating the papilla with a balloon catheter. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Patients (n = 212; 101 men and 111 women; mean age, 73 years; range, 31-95 years) had their calculi (single, 131; multiple, 81) percutaneously expelled into the duodenum in 73 patients via an indwelling T tube, and in 139 via transhepatic or transcystic duct route. Stone expulsion was facilitated with an occlusion balloon after balloon sphincteroplasty and with prior mechanical fragmentation in only 37 patients. After the expulsion of the calculi into the duodenum, drainage of the main bile duct to the exterior was maintained for 2-8 days. | lld:pubmed |