Use of external shock-wave lithotripsy and adjuvant ursodiol for treatment of radiolucent gallstones. A national multicenter study

Repeated piezoelectric lithotripsy for gallstones with and without ursodeoxycholic acid dissolution: a multicenter study

The use of bile acid dissolution therapy in extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy of gallstones, remains controversial. Our study examined whether chemolitholysis after sufficient disintegration enhanced stone clearance within 6 months of the first lithotripsy. A total of 143 patients who developed one to three radiolucent stones measuring < or = 30 mm in diameter were randomly separated into two treatment groups: 47% were given lithotripsy alone, and 53% lithotripsy plus ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Repeated piezoelectric lithotripsy was given, with no limit on the total number of treatment sessions, to pulverize or disintegrate stones into fragments < 3 mm. Stones were disintegrated in 97% of all patients, and the fragments were < or = 2 mm in 50% of these patients. According to an intention-to-treat analysis, 52% in the lithotripsy alone group and 58% in the UDCA group were free of stones 6 months after the first lithotripsy (P = 0.61). Of the patients with fragments < or = 2 mm, 71% in the former and 86% in the latter group were free of stones 6 months after the first lithotripsy, with no significant difference between the groups. Biliary pain occurred in 25% of all patients, including 3 with acute cholecystitis. We concluded that the sufficient disintegration of gallstones achieved with repeated lithotripsy enhanced the early clearance of fragments, regardless of whether chemolitholysis was employed.

An early gallstone clearance following repeat piezoelectric lithotripsy

Piezoelectric extracorporeal litotripsy was performed in 128 symptomatic patients with radiolucent gall-bladder stones to assess the significance of disintegration in fragment clearance. Up to 10 repeat lithotripsy sessions were scheduled to achieve a fragment target size of < 3 mm. Fragmentation assessed by the size of the largest fragments after the last session was graded into three classes. I: sludge-like disintegration, 18%; II: < 3 mm (mean +/- s.d., 1.7 +/- 0.5 mm), 56%; and III: > or = 3 mm (3.3 +/- 0.6), 26%. All patients were initially subjected to lithotripsy alone. Bile acid dissolution therapy was started only when ultrasonography failed to show the evidence of decrease in the < 3 mm fragments during a 1 month follow up. Finally, 69 patients (54%) were treated by lithotripsy alone, and the remaining 59 received additional dissolution therapy at a mean period of 2.5 months after the initial lithotripsy. The rate of complete clearance in class I, II and III patients was 91, 42 and 10% at 6 months and 100, 68 and 49% at 18 months, respectively. Significant differences were noted between the three fragmentation grades (I vs II, III, P < 0.0001; II vs III, P < 0.02). The patients with complete clearance within 6 months were seen only in those treated by lithotripsy alone, while the majority (87%) of patients with complete clearance during the later period were seen in those treated by additional dissolution therapy. We conclude that a high degree of fragmentation appears to lead stones to an earlier period clearance, and reduce the need for dissolution therapy.

Biliary extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy: an update

Since the mid-1980s, numerous clinical studies, involving hundreds of patients, have attested to the safety and efficacy of this technique. There have been no deaths, and occasional soft tissue damage appears to be temporary.

Gallstone recurrence after shock-wave therapy

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The long-term outcome of nonoperative gallstone therapy depends on both absence of stones and absence of biliary pain. The aim of the present study was to determine the rate of stone recurrence and the rate of symptoms within 5 years after successful shock wave lithotripsy combined with bile acid therapy.

METHODS

One hundred consecutive patients (single stones, n = 89; 2 or 3 stones, n = 11) were followed up for a median of 4.3 years after stone disappearance and discontinuation of bile acids.

RESULTS

Twenty-three of the 100 patients developed recurrent stones. Calculated by actuarial analysis, the recurrence rate was 7% +/- 3%, 11% +/- 3%, 13% +/- 4%, 20% +/- 5%, and 31% +/- 7% (mean +/- SD) at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, respectively. The recurrent stones were small (6 +/- 5 mm) and were associated with recurrent biliary pain in 14 (61%) of the 23 patients. Repeated shock wave lithotripsy and/or bile acid medication resulted in stone disappearance in only 10 of 20 patients with recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

The long-term rate of stone recurrence after lithotripsy of primarily solitary gallbladder calculi is lower than expected from post-bile acid dissolution trials. Recurrence of stones frequently is associated with recurrence of biliary pain.

Biliary lithotripsy with a new electromagnetic shock wave source. A 2-year clinical experience

During a two-year study period 170 consecutive patients with gallbladder stones, suitable for lithotripsy, were treated with a new electromagnetic lithotriptor (Modulith) and oral bile acids; 142 patients were treated as outpatients. Sufficient fragmentation were obtained in 94% when 2112 +/- 137 shocks in 211 sessions with an energy setting of 17.8 +/- 0.8 kV were administered. Only 4/170 patients needed transient analgesia. Overall, side effects were transient and mild, but three patients developed biliary pancreatitis, which was treated by endoscopic sphincterotomy in two of them. A total of 67/100 patients were free of stones after one year. Subgroup analysis showed that 80% of the patients (stone diameter 5-20 mm), 64% (20-30 mm) and 65% (multiple stones), respectively, can expected to be free of stones after 12 months. In addition, 25 patients with large, endoscopically not extractable common bile duct stones were treated by lithotripsy with the Modulith. After endoscopic placement of a nasobiliary tube, stone targeting was possible by ultrasonography in 14 patients and by fluoroscopy in another 11 cases. In 23 of the 25 patients (92%) stone clearance by endoscopy was achieved after application of 2516 +/- 565 shocks with an energy preset of 18 kV. One patient refused further endoscopic procedures after successful fragmentation and another required local stone dissolution therapy. Side effects occurred more frequently (P < 0.05) after lithotripsy of bile duct stones than of gallbladder stones, but they were without major clinical relevance. The new lithotriptor Modulith thus enables safe and highly effective lithotripsy of gallbladder calculi on an outpatient basis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Gallstone disease: current therapy

After a decade of effort to develop a minimalist alternative to standard cholecystectomy as the treatment for gallstone disease, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has emerged as the treatment of choice. Gallstone dissolution and lithotripsy failed to meet the tests of applicability and reliability. In fact, lithotripsy was denied approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1989. LC achieves the benchmark of treatment--removal of the diseased gallbladder and its stones--with less pain, disability, and disfigurement than standard surgery. The procedure is applicable in more than 90% of cases, being limited primarily by the severity of inflammation and the surgeon's experience. During the past 3 years, the special instrumentation has improved and operative techniques have been standardized resulting in fewer complications. For these reasons, laparoscopic surgical techniques are now being applied to a widening array of procedures including hernia repairs, bowel resections, antireflux procedures, common bile duct stone removal, lymph node dissections, and peptide ulcer disease treatment.

Gallstone lithotripsy

Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has been applied to patients with gallstones since the mid-1980s. Lithotriptors differ by their means of shock-wave generation, the mechanisms by which they are coupled to the patient, and their imaging systems. Entry in most treatment protocols is limited to symptomatic patients with one to three radiolucent stones having a diameter of 30 mm or less and a functioning gallbladder according to oral cholecystography. Treatments are given on an out-patient basis using intravenous analgesia and include adjuvant bile acid therapy. Deaths have not been reported, and the incidence of serious complications, related to the presence of fragments in the biliary system, is low. The studies show that ESWL is a safe and effective treatment for patients with a single gallstone less than or equal to 20 mm in diameter, but the efficacy for larger single stones and multiple stones is poor. To date, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved lithotriptors for the treatment of gallstones in the United States.

Results of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy of gall bladder stones in 693 patients: a plea for restriction to solitary radiolucent stones

During a period of 24 months 693 consecutive patients with symptomatic gall bladder stones (526 males, 167 females; mean age 51 years, range 18-89) were treated by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy with a Piezolith 2300. The procedure was carried out on an out-patient basis without analgesics or sedatives. Concomitant chemolitholytic treatment (ursodeoxycholic and chenodeoxycholic acid 7.5 mg/kg/day each) was administered until three months after total fragment clearance for a maximum therapy period of 1.5 years. In 601 patients with radiolucent stones complete clearance of all fragments was obtained after three, six, 12, and 18 months in respectively 20, 41, 64, and 78%. Actuarial analysis of the subgroups according to the stone mass (size and number) selected an ideal patient population with solitary stones less than 20 mm diameter (84% stone free after one year). The results are significantly less good when the greater the number of stones or their maximal diameter increases. Treatment was interrupted in 3.6% of the patients. In 90 sludge or fragments remain present. Twenty five patients were lost to follow up for non-biliary reasons. Stone recurrence was 5.7% at one year and was observed both in patients with solitary and multiple stones. A cost effectiveness analysis suggests that laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most effective and economic solution, although extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for solitary radiolucent stones less than 2 cm is cheaper than conventional cholecystectomy. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for multiple stones is the most expensive and least effective option.

Gallbladder emptying is an important factor in fragment disappearance after shock wave lithotripsy

The role of gallbladder emptying in fragment disappearance following shock wave lithotripsy of gallstones is poorly understood. We studied gallbladder motility in two groups of patients who had been treated by electrohydraulic shock wave lithotripsy and bile acid dissolution therapy. Group I (n = 20) consisted of patients with fragment disappearance within 18 months after lithotripsy, while patients in group II (n = 20) still harboured fragments in the gallbladder 18 months after lithotripsy. Fasting gallbladder volume was 19 +/- 10 ml (mean +/- S.D.) in group I, and 24 +/- 12 ml in group II (not significant). The residual volume was 8 +/- 9 ml in group I, but 18 +/- 14 ml in group II (p < 0.005). Thus, patients in group I ejected nearly twice as much of the fasting gallbladder volume as patients in group II. This difference in gallbladder emptying was still present if only the patients with single stones were compared in both groups. From the results of this retrospective study we conclude that gallbladder emptying is an important factor for complete fragment disappearance after gallstone disintegration by extracorporeally generated shock waves. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these observations.

Gallstone disease. Pathophysiology, epidemiology, natural history, and treatment options

In 1991, only symptomatic gallstones should be treated. The treatment of choice for all gallstones continues to be surgical removal. Except for stones in the common bile duct, which are amenable to removal by endoscopic papillotomy, nonsurgical treatment of gallstones should be investigated further before it can have widespread applicability. The major challenge in the future may be medical prevention of gallstone formation in susceptible individuals. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy seems to have moved to the forefront of surgical therapy in patients who are candidates for the procedure.

Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy and ursodiol versus ursodiol alone in the treatment of gallstones

The efficacy and occurrence of adverse effects after two forms of treatment were compared in 111 patients with biliary colic and radiolucent gallstones in this prospective, nonrandomized study. Fifty-four patients received extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESL) plus ursodiol, and 57 patients received ursodiol alone. Among patients with a single stone (5-20 mm in size), no patient treated with ursodiol alone had a stone-free gallbladder at 6 or 12 months after treatment; of those treated with ESL plus ursodiol, 15 of 24 patients (63%) had a stone-free gallbladder at 6 months and 17 of 20 patients (85%) at 12 months. For patients with multiple stones (with an aggregate diameter of less than or equal to 30 mm), the incidence of a stone-free gallbladder was 2 of 43 patients (5%) at 6 months and 8 of 35 patients (23%) at 12 months in the ursodiol treatment group. In the ESL plus ursodiol group, the incidence of a stone-free gallbladder was 7 of 22 patients (32%) at 6 months and 9 of 20 patients (45%) at 12 months. Two patients in the ESL plus ursodiol group (4%) and 13 patients in the ursodiol group (24%) underwent cholecystectomy. Both patients in the ESL plus ursodiol therapy and 4 patients in the ursodiol group had emergency cholecystectomies because of acute cholecystitis. The remaining 9 patients in the ursodiol group had elective cholecystectomies. In this nonrandomized, prospective study, ESL plus ursodiol treatment produced stone-free gallbladders at a faster rate than ursodiol alone in patients with either single or multiple gallstones.

Lithotripsy plus ursodiol is superior to ursodiol alone for cholesterol gallstones

The safety and efficacy of gallbladder extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy combined with 600 mg/day ursodiol were examined in 85 patients with radiolucent gallstones, 15 with lightly calcified gallstones, and 12 with radiolucent stones pretreated for greater than or equal to 2 months with 600 mg/day ursodiol. Results were compared with those of a well-matched lithotripsy-eligible group of 32 subjects treated with ursodiol alone (no lithotripsy). Pretreatment with ursodiol significantly improved while gallstone calcification interfered with fragmentation. Small gallstone size and number also aided fragmentation. Biliary lithotripsy plus ursodiol increased efficacy twofold compared with ursodiol therapy alone (47% vs. 22% of subjects gallstone free; P less than 0.02). Gallstones did not disappear in any subject with calcified gallstones (P less than 0.001) vs. lithotripsy). Product-limit analysis showed that the efficacy for gallstone dissolution increases in the following order: ursodiol alone, lithotripsy-ursodiol, lithotripsy-ursodiol pretreated with ursodiol (P less than 0.02, pairwise). Similar mean gallstone-dissolution rate constants (stone size divided by time to disappear) of stone fragments and whole gallstones during ursodiol therapy suggest that most fragments disappear by dissolution not expulsion. This finding explains why fragmentation appears to be the key predictor of disappearance and even partial fragmentation accelerates gallstone clearance.

Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy and litholytic therapy in cholelithiasis

Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) and litholytic therapy were used in 100 patients over a period of 16 months. ESWL was carried out with a Lithostar Plus and chenodeoxycholic acid was used as the lytic agent, given until 3 months after complete disappearance of stones. Within a period of 8-12 months, stones disappeared completely in 82 per cent of the patients who had a single stone less than or equal to 20 mm in diameter and in 50 per cent of those with a single stone greater than 20 mm in size or with multiple stones. Complications requiring surgery developed in five patients: three had acute cholecystitis and two developed acute pancreatitis. Of the patients in whom complete stone clearance was achieved, two of 11 followed up developed recurrence of stones 4 months after cessation of lytic therapy.

Noninvasive therapy of gallbladder calculi with a radiopaque rim

Safety and efficacy of shock-wave lithotripsy and bile acid dissolution therapy of patients with gallbladder calculi with a radiopaque rim were evaluated. Eighty-six patients with symptomatic solitary stones were treated by this noninvasive therapy and were followed up to 18 months. Three different lithotripsy treatment modalities were used. Up to 1600 shock wave discharges were applied. Patients in group A (n = 20) were treated with an electrohydraulic water-bath lithotripter at a discharge voltage of 18 +/- 1 kV (mean +/- SD), group B patients (n = 25) were treated with an electrohydraulic water-cushion lithotripter at 19 +/- 2 kV, and group C patients were treated (n = 41) with the same lithotripter at 22 +/- 2 kV. Five to eight months after lithotripsy, 15% in group A were free of fragments compared with only 4% in group B (NS vs. group A), and 38% in group C had no stones (NS vs. group A; P = 0.007 vs. B). Thirteen to eighteen months after lithotripsy, the respective results were 59% in group A, 37% in group B (NS vs. group A), and 68% in group C (NS vs. group A; P = 0.05 vs. group B). Patients with fragments of less than or equal to 3 mm in diameter showed significantly better fragment clearance than those with larger fragments. The frequency of adverse effects was not significantly different between the three groups. Biliary colic occurred in 43% of the patients and mild biliary pancreatitis in 3 patients. Endoscopic sphincterotomy was required in 1 patient, and elective cholecystectomy was performed in 6 patients. Using a water-cushion lithotripter at high-power setting, selected patients with solitary gallbladder stones with a radiopaque rim may be treated safely and successfully by shock-wave lithotripsy combined with bile acid dissolution therapy.

Treatment of symptomatic cholelithiasis in France. A decision analysis comparing cholecystectomy and biliary lithotripsy

To determine the potential role of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in the treatment of symptomatic gallstone patients in France, a simulation model evaluated the health and economic effects of three different treatment strategies. Decision analysis of conventional cholecystectomy alone and either of two strategies using a combination of biliary lithotripsy and conventional cholecystectomy reveals that a strategy employing biliary ESWL results in a significant number of successfully treated patients, thus avoiding the risks and costs of abdominal surgery. Moreover, cost analysis shows that expanding the use of lithotripsy to all patients for whom the procedure is indicated increases the average cost per successfully treated patient, but, more importantly, decreases the overall costs incurred by the cohort. From a societal viewpoint, a policy using biliary ESWL in appropriate patients is superior to one of cholecystectomy alone, from both clinical and economic perspectives.

Significance of computed tomography for shock-wave therapy of radiolucent gallbladder stones

One hundred eleven symptomatic patients (91 women, 20 men) with solitary "radiolucent" stones (proved by a plain radiograph) underwent examination with computed tomography for stone analysis before extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy with a second-generation piezoelectric lithoptripter. The aim of the study was to assess the importance of computed tomography as a diagnostic pretreatment procedure compared with the plain abdominal radiograph: computed tomography density values greater than 50 Hounsfield units (HU) were found in 64 of 111 patients with radiolucent stones (58%). Of these 64, 50 patients even had values greater than 90 HU (50/111;45%). The majority of the stones with density values greater than 50 HU had a hyperdense rim (43 of 64) with a mean maximum attenuation of 134 +/- 68 HU. A significantly higher degree of stone disintegration was achieved with stones of group A (less than or equal to 50 HU) than with those in group B (greater than 50 HU and less than or equal to 90 HU) and group C (greater than 90 HU) with respect to the mean maximum fragment size after the first (P less than 0.001) and last (P less than 0.01) lithotripsy and with respect to the total number of shock waves applied (P less than 0.001) and the number of treatments (P less than 0.001). No difference was observed between groups B and C. After all follow-up periods, the rate of complete stone disappearance was higher in group A than in group B (NS for 1, 2, and 4 months of follow-up; P less than 0.01 for month 8; P less than 0.05 for month 12) and group C (P less than 0.05 for 1, 2, and 4 months of follow-up; P less than 0.001 for months 8 and 12). The authors conclude that computed tomographic analysis of gallstones before lithotripsy is more sensitive in detecting nonradiolucent stones than in the plain radiograph. Computed tomographic stone analysis seems to provide a better selection of patients suitable for biliary lithotripsy and could become a standard diagnostic pretreatment procedure to improve stone disintegration and complete stone disappearance after shock-wave lithotripsy and adjuvant chemolitholysis.

Electrohydraulic extracorporeal non-water bath shock-wave lithotripsy of gallstones: two years' experience

A prospective study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) using a non-water bath lithotripter in combination with oral chemolitholysis on gallstone clearance. Patients were treated without general anesthesia or parenteral analgesia. We treated 74 patients selected according to the widely accepted criteria. Only 2 patients could not be sufficiently treated because of pain. After a 2 year period, 24 (32%) patients showed complete stone clearance, 35 (47%) patients had residual fragments, 5 (7%) patients underwent cholecystectomy, 2 (3%) patients were lost to follow up, and 8 (11%) patients discontinued the treatment before fragment clearance. According to the life-table estimate, 77% of our patients with successful ESWL and uncomplicated oral chemolitholysis are stonefree after 1 year. We consider the major advantage of this nonsurgical treatment of gallstone disease is that general anesthesia or parenteral analgesia has become unnecessary.

Cost-effectiveness of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy versus cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallstones

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy vs. cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallstones, a model was constructed that projects charges and survival for both treatments. For a 45-year-old woman with one small stone, treatment with extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy rather than cholecystectomy is projected to result in an average gain of only 3 days of life and an average increase in direct medical charges of $1729 over 5 years of follow-up. The resulting marginal cost-effectiveness of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy vs. cholecystectomy is $216,000 of extra charges per year of life gained with extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy. Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy is projected to be much more cost-effective for elderly than for young patients (10-20-fold difference), but considerably less cost-effective for multiple stones than a single stone (2-4-fold difference), and less cost-effective for women than men (twofold difference). Adjusting for effects of morbidity on quality of life, extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy is projected to have slightly better quality-adjusted survival than cholecystectomy for the small subset of patients with one stone (by 8 to 43 days at 5 years) but not for young patients with multiple stones. It is concluded that decisions about appropriate use of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy should consider the effects of patient characteristics on clinical and economic outcomes.

Lithotripsy versus cholecystectomy for management of gallstones. A decision analysis by Markov process

Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy is a new treatment method that effectively distintegrates radiolucent gallstones and is associated with a low complication rate. Using the model of a Markov process for decision analysis, survival and costs under four possible strategies to treat gallstones were compared: expectant management with cholecystectomy (EC) or lithotripsy (EL) reserved for symptomatic gallstones; prophylactic cholecystectomy (PC) or lithotripsy (PL) for all gallstones. Life expectancy for the different strategies varies by few days. Only if high annual rates of pain and complication occurred in subjects with silent gallstones would both prophylactic procedures marginally increase life expectancy. Prophylactic cholecystectomy then would be more cost-effective than prophylactic lithotripsy. Expectant strategies remain much cheaper than prophylactic management over a broad range of probability values and procedural costs. Expectant use of lithotripsy costs less than cholecystectomy. A low success rate of lithotripsy would raise the direct costs of lithotripsy above those of cholecystectomy but leave total costs of both strategies in the same order of magnitude. Lithotripsy appears to be a feasible alternative to treat symptomatic but not asymptomatic gallstones.

The economic burden of gallstone lithotripsy. Will cost determine its fate?

Gallstone lithotripsy (LITHO) was performed on 52 patients who underwent 107 procedures. Two hundred sixty-seven gallstone patients were screened and 215 (81%) were excluded. Excessive stone burden and nonvisualization by oral cholecystogram (OCG) were the most common reasons for exclusion. The hospital course of 100 excluded patients who later underwent elective cholecystectomy was evaluated for length of hospital stay (2.3 days) and total cost of treatment ($3685.00). Successful fragmentation to less than 5 mm was achieved in 43 LITHO patients (83%). Five LITHO patients (10%) required conversion to operative management. Complications of LITHO included acute cholecystitis (1 of 52 patients) and biliary colic (17 of 52 patients, or 33%). Multiple procedures in one patient were common. Costs for LITHO were calculated in two ways: first the individual cost for each of the 52 candidates; second the cost for successful LITHO was calculated by excluding five patients who required operation as well as five patients (10%) who are predicted failures of LITHO. Including the preoperative evaluation, treatment, recovery room, and follow-up, the individual LITHO cost for 52 patients was $8275.00. If the same total expenditure is calculated after excluding patients who required operation and those predicted to fail, the cost per 'successful' LITHO procedure was $10,245. The cost of 1 year of bile acid therapy is $1949.00 or $2413.00 per 'successful' procedure. Follow-up costs were $1232.00 per patient or $1525.00 per 'successful' procedure. The added LITHO cost incurred by screening eventual noncandidates was $904.00 per successful procedure. The sum of these individual costs was $15,087.00 per success, as compared to $3685.00 for cholecystectomy. No allowance was made for cost of stone recurrence. Lithotripsy costs appear to be sufficiently high to render the procedure unlikely to emerge as the treatment of choice.

Treatment of gallstones with piezoelectric lithotripsy and oral bile acids. A multicenter study

The efficacy of the combination of piezoelectric lithotripsy and oral bile acids in the treatment of gallbladder stones was assessed. Three hundred and sixty-three patients with symptomatic radiolucent gallstones in functioning gallbladder were treated in five medical centers using the same protocol with the EDAP LT 01 lithotripter. No anesthesia, analgesia or sedation was used. After one session of lithotripsy, fragmentation was observed in 89% of the patients, and satisfactory fragmentation (fragments less than or equal to 5 mm) in 29%. The satisfactory fragmentation rate was higher in patients with solitary stones less than or equal to 20 mm than in patients with solitary stones 21-35 mm or multiple stones (p less than 0.001). After multiple sessions (mean 1.6 session/patient, range 1-5) the overall rate of satisfactory fragmentation was 50%. After 12 months on oral bile acid therapy, complete clearance of the gallbladder was observed in 69% of patients with solitary stones less than or equal to 20 mm, 25% of patients with solitary stones 21-35 mm and 37% of patients with multiple stones. No complication was observed during the lithotripsy. During follow-up under bile acid therapy, there were five complications (1.4%): four patients had acute cholecystitis and one had mild, self-limited pancreatitis. We conclude that piezoelectric lithotripsy with the EDAP lithotripter is a safe and effective treatment which can be performed in outpatients. Satisfactory fragmentation and rapid disappearance of stones are obtained mainly in patients with solitary stones less than or equal to 20 mm.

New trends in gallstone management

Many new therapies for the management of gallstone disease have been pioneered in the past decade. The object of this review is to equip the surgeon with the answers to all of the questions a patient will ask about gallstone therapy; the review is therefore didactic as well as comprehensive.

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for biliary stones

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is a noninvasive technique for treatment of patients with gallbladder and bile duct stones. Selected patients with gallbladder stones can be treated on an outpatient basis without general anesthesia and may return to full activity within 1 or 2 days. Stone-free rates of 40% to 60% at 6 months have been achieved in most reported series with minimal morbidity. Bile duct stone lithotripsy has achieved stone clearance in 80% of patients in whom conventional methods were unsuccessful and therefore constitutes a valuable second-line treatment for these patients.

The effect of ursodiol on the efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy of gallstones. The Dornier National Biliary Lithotripsy Study

BACKGROUND

In the treatment of gallstones with extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy, the bile acid ursodiol is administered to dissolve the gallstone fragments. We designed our study to determine the value of administering this agent.

METHODS

At 10 centers, 600 symptomatic patients with three or fewer radiolucent gallstones 5 to 30 mm in diameter, as visualized by oral cholecystography, were randomly assigned to receive ursodiol or placebo for six months, starting one week before lithotripsy.

RESULTS

The stones were fragmented in 97 percent of all patients, and the fragments were less than or equal to 5 mm in diameter in 46.8 percent. On the basis of an intention-to-treat analysis of all 600 patients, 21 percent receiving ursodiol and 9 percent receiving placebo (P less than 0.0001) had gallbladders that were free of stones after six months. Among those with completely radiolucent solitary stones less than 20 mm in diameter, 35 percent of the patients receiving ursodiol and 18 percent of those receiving placebo (P less than 0.001) were free of stones after six months. Biliary pain, usually mild, occurred in 73 percent of all patients but in only 13 percent of those who were free of stones after three and six months (P less than 0.01). There were few adverse events. Only diarrhea occurred with a significantly different frequency in the two groups: 32.6 percent were affected in the ursodiol group, as compared with 24.7 percent in the placebo group (P less than 0.04). Severe biliary pain occurred in 1.5 percent of all patients, acute cholecystitis in 1.0 percent, and acute pancreatitis in 1.5 percent; endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed in 0.5 percent, and cholecystectomy in 2.5 percent.

CONCLUSIONS

Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy with ursodiol was more effective than lithotripsy alone for the treatment of symptomatic gallstones, and equally safe. Treatment was more effective for solitary than multiple stones, radiolucent than slightly calcified stones, and smaller than larger stones.

Piezoelectric lithotripsy: stone disintegration and follow-up results in patients with symptomatic gallbladder stones

One hundred symptomatic patients with radiolucent gallbladder stones were treated with a new piezoelectric lithotripter and oral chemolitholytic agents. Stone disintegration was achieved in 99 of these patients (99%) with a mean (+/- SD) maximum fragment size of 5.1 +/- 4.1 mm. Significant differences were found when the mean (+/- SD) fragment sizes of single stones less than or equal to 20 mm (4.2 +/- 2.5 mm) were compared with those of single stones greater than 20 mm (5.8 +/- 3.4 mm; P less than 0.05) and multiple stones (6.2 +/- 3.8 mm; P less than 0.05), respectively. None of the patients required anesthesia, analgesics, or sedatives before or during the treatment. The stone-free rates for all patients followed up for up to 4-12 months (mean +/- SD, 10.7 +/- 2.9 months) were 18% (1 month), 25% (2 months), 38% (4 months), 52% (8 months), and 67% (12 months). Partly significant differences were obtained in stone-free rates for single stones (less than or equal to 20 mm) compared with larger stones (greater than 20 mm) and multiple stones (P less than 0.05), respectively. Serious adverse reactions (i.e., cholestasis and pancreatitis) were observed in only 3 patients (3%). These conditions were induced by fragment impaction in the common bile duct. In 2 of these patients, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with endoscopic sphincterotomy was required. It is concluded that piezoelectrically generated shock waves are suitable for the effective and safe disintegration of gallbladder stones in humans. The anesthesia-free and analgesia-free shock-wave application opens up the possibility to perform biliary lithotripsy as an outpatient procedure. The stone-free rate achieved in combination with oral bile acids is most promising for single stones (less than or equal to 20 mm).

Gallbladder surgery following cholecystlithotripsy: suggested guidelines for treatment

Twenty-three of 229 symptomatic patients undergoing cholecystlithotripsy underwent surgical intervention: 22 of the patients had cholecystectomy performed (five also undergoing choledochotomy) and one patient had a cholecystostomy. Of these 23 patients, five were lithotripsy failures, five developed acute pancreatitis, one had acute cholecystitis, and one had cholangitis. One patient had her gallbladder removed incidentally at the time of surgery for a bleeding gastric ulcer. Ten patients underwent surgery for recurrent biliary pain, probably related to fragment passage via the cystic duct. We suggest that up to 16 of these 23 patients did not necessarily require cholecystectomy, i.e. five patients with pancreatitis, one patient with cholangitis and ten patients with recurrent biliary colic. Conservative and/or endoscopic management may be successful in the first instance to allow further treatment with lithotripsy in the majority of patients. If, however, the expertise to perform endoscopic sphincterotomy is not available or the patient declines further lithotripsy, then resort to surgery may be necessary. We propose that it is the responsibility of the management team in charge of the lithotripsy unit to inform both the patient and the referring clinicians of the possible side-effects and outcome of treatment in an attempt to avoid unnecessary surgical procedures.

Percutaneous endoscopic treatment of cholelithiasis

Surgical management of gallstones was first performed successfully in 1878. Over the past decade, several new treatment alternatives have evolved that challenge the supremacy of traditional surgical cholecystectomy. Two endoscopic alternatives, e.g., percutaneous cholecystolithotomy (PCCL) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) are the latest additions to the growing armamentarium. Our initial experience with PCCL and LC as compared with our traditional cholecystectomy experience shows a 57% reduction in hospital days, a 58% reduction in postoperative analgesic dose, and 50% or more reduction in disabling convalescence in favor of the endoscopic alternatives. A review of the efficacy and morbidity of traditional surgery, peroral drug chemolysis (PDC), shockwave lithotripsy plus PDC, and percutaneous transhepatic lavage with methyl terbutyl ether suggests that the endoscopic alternatives are less morbid than traditional surgery and more efficacious and perhaps less morbid than other non-invasive or minimally invasive alternatives. Both original data and a literature review are presented.

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy

A review of the mechanics, technical components, and treatment specifics associated with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is presented. An overview of device similarities and differences, shock wave theory, and the use of ESWL for treatment of biliary and urinary calculi is covered. A general synopsis of relevant topics is provided with emphasis placed on those aspects that are related to sonography or may potentially require the involvement of a sonographer.