Randomized Trial of ERCP Then Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy vs. Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Plus Laparoscopic Common Bile Duct Exploration in Patients With Likely Choledocholithiasis (ERCP/CBDE Trial)

N/A

Waitlist Available

Research Sponsored by University of California, San Francisco

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Be older than 18 years old

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up up to 5 years

Awards & highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

Objective: We compared outcome parameters for good-risk patients with classic signs, symptoms, laboratory and abdominal imaging features of cholecystolithiasis and choledocholithiasis randomized to either LC + LCBDE or ERCP/S + LC. Design: Our study was a prospective trial conducted following written informed consent with randomization by the serially-numbered opaque envelope technique. Setting: Our institution is an academic teaching hospital and the central receiving and trauma center for the City and County of San Francisco. Patients: We randomized 122 patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists Grade I or II) meeting entry criteria. Ten of these patients, excluded from outcome analysis, were protocol violators having signed out of the hospital against medical advice before one of both procedures were completed. Interventions: Treatment was pre-operative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography sphincterotomy (ERCP/S) followed by laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), or laparoscopic cholecystectomy plus laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LC + LCBDE). Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measure was efficacy of stone clearance from the common bile duct. Secondary endpoints were length of hospital stay, cost of index hospitalization, professional fees, hospital charges, morbidity and mortality, and patient acceptance and quality of life scores.

Eligible Conditions

Gallstones

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ up to 5 years

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~up to 5 years

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and up to 5 years for reporting.

Treatment Details

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

2Treatment groups

Active Control

Group I: Lap CBDEActive Control1 Intervention

LC + LCBDE was performed in a routine fashion by one fulltime faculty member (SJR) with fellowship training in laparoscopy. Cholangiograms were obtained fluoroscopically using the same make and model fluoroscope (OEC Diasonics 9400) as used in ERCP by antegrade contrast flushing through the cystic duct. All fluoroscopy was performed by the principal author (SJR) in the presence of and concurrence with the ERCP endoscopist (JPC). When stones were detected or suspected by cholangiography, transcystic exploration was undertaken by balloon or basket with associated balloon dilation of the sphincter of Oddi A completion cholangiogram was obtained to confirm that all stones were removed. Once the LCBDE was completed, the cystic duct was ligated and the gallbladder removed.

Group II: ERCPActive Control1 Intervention

All ERCP's were performed by one of the authors (JPC), a fulltime faculty member and gastroenterology fellowship instructor in the presence and concurrence of the principal author/ surgeon (SJR). Patients randomized to ERCP/S + LC were scheduled to undergo the endoscopic procedure using fluoroscopy (OEC Diasonics 9400) in the endoscopy suite under moderate sedation (principally intravenous midazolam and meperidine) prior to the intended laparoscopy. Duodenal atony during ERCP was routinely achieved using intravenout glucagon. The laparoscopic cholecystectomy was subsequently performed as soon as technically feasible (i.e. following abdominal gas decompression) following the ERCP

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