Efficacy and safety of endoscopic sphincterotomy with balloon dilation versus endoscopic sphincterotomy alone for extraction of common bile duct stones with a maximum diameter of 10 to15 millimeters

Various factors, most notably the stone's features, determine the selection of an appropriate method to extract common bile duct (CBD) stones during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. In this study, the efficacy and safety of endoscopic sphincterotomy with balloon dilation (ESBD) versus endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) for CBD stone extraction with a diameter of 10 to 15 millimeters were compared.

This retrospective cross-sectional study included 154 patients referred to the Rouhani Hospital in Babol, Iran, with CBD stones. Consensus sampling was used. Each individual's demographic information and findings from the procedure were entered into the SPSS software (v. 26). A level of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

A total of 154 patients were included in the study, of which 81 (52.6%) were in the EST, and 73 (47.4%) were in the ESBD group. Complete stones removal rate was higher in the ESBD versus the EST group (79.5% versus 46.9%, P<0.001). No significant differences were observed between the two methods' overall side effects rate (P = 0.469).

For the complete extraction of CBD stones larger than 10 millimeters, the ESBD method outperforms the EST method.