[Immediate and long-term results of endoscopic or surgical Oddi sphincterotomy in the treatment of lithiasis of the common bile duct].

Ninety-one patients with choledocholithiasis were admitted for endoscopic (51 cases) or surgical (40 cases) sphincterotomy of Oddi's muscle, and were followed up on a yearly basis thereafter for a period spanning 1 to 5 years. The study protocol included clinical examinations, ultrasonographic investigations and biochemical tests. The post-surgery mortality rate was 3.9% following endoscopic sphincterotomy versus 0% after surgery. Postoperative complications occurred in 3.9% of patients treated endoscopically (bleeding, angiocholitis) and in 5% of surgical patients (bronchopneumonia, suppuration of abdominal wall). Attempts to remove calculi via endoscopic Oddian sphincterotomy failed in 37% of cases. Long-range results were classified as excellent or good in 92% of patients treated endoscopically, and in 100% of cases treated surgically. Endoscopic division of Oddi's sphincter was unsuccessful in 4 patients (8%), who either had recurrent bile-duct stones (2 cases) or developed sphincteric stenosis. Among biochemical indices of biliary stasis, only alkaline phosphatase contents showed a greater increase following endoscopic sphincterotomy than after surgical treatment. Ultrasonographic studies of the bile duct evidenced a greater incidence of air entrapment in the bile ducts of patients subjected to surgical sphincterotomy.