Endoscopic Management of the Difficult Bile Duct Stones: A Single Tertiary Center Experience
Table 1
Main differences between patients with easy and difficult stones.
Variable
Easy stone (n: 1321)
Difficult stone (n: 208)
p value
Age (year)
62.9 ± 17
66 ± 16.9
0.015
Gender: women/men; n (%)
811 (61.4)/510 (38.6)
136 (65.4)/72 (34.6)
0.267
Laboratory findings
Glucose (mg/dL)
115 ± 45.1
115.6 ± 60.3
0.915
ALT (U/L)
80 (5−2665)
48 (1−643)
<0.001
AST (U/L)
59 (2−1851)
47 (10−607)
0.004
GGT (U/L)
278 (6−2400)
215 (4−5811)
0.016
ALP(U/L)
183 (9−2069)
200 (16−2105)
0.418
Amylase (mg/dL)
208 ± 551
114.4 ± 158.9
0.954
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)
5.3 ± 4.58
9.6 ± 11.8
0.006
Endoscopic/radiological findings; n (%)
Cholecystectomized patients
318 (%25.6)
78 (41.9)
<0.001
Papilla in bulbus
16 (1.2)
7 (3.5)
0.025
Papilla in 3rd portion
11 (0.8)
7 (3.5)
0.006
Periampullary diverticula
236 (17.9)
29 (13.9)
0.063
History of gastric operation
14 (1.1)
4 (1.9)
0.100
Impacted stone
2 (0.15)
18 (8.6)
<0.001
Stricture distal to the stone
3 (0.22)
40 (13.6)
<0.001
Number of patients with dilated CBD; n (%)
743 (70.4)
114 (94.2)
<0.001
Values are presented as number (%), mean ± SD, or median (range). ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; CBD: common bile duct; GGT: gamma glutamyl transferase; ALP: alkaline phosphatase.