Background: The value of endoprostheses for long term management of bile duct stones has not been formally established. A retrospective evaluation of results and complications of the insertion of biliary endoprostheses was performed in patients with endoscopic irretrievable bile duct stones.
Methods: From January 1990 to September 1999, 52 patients (19 men and 33 women; average age 76 years), underwent endoscopic biliary stenting for endoscopically irretrievable bile duct stones.
Results: Successful biliary drainage was achieved in 50/52 (96.1%) patients. Early complications occurred in 11.5% of cases. Over the long term follow-up (average follow-up = 39.5 months) late complications occurred in 40.8% of cases, with 3 cases of biliary-related death.
Conclusions: For immediate bile duct drainage, endoprostheses proved a safe and effective alternative for treatment of patients with endoscopically irretrievable bile duct stones. Because of the risk of subsequent complications, its use as a definitive treatment should be confirmed to highly selected cases.