Endoscopic treatment of pancreatic duct stones using a 10F pancreatoscope and electrohydraulic lithotripsy

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic therapy with adjunctive extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy fails to provide clearance of pancreatic duct stones in up to 25% of symptomatic patients. Direct contact lithotripsy may provide an additional option for removal of refractory stones. We report our initial experience using a prototype 10F "baby" endoscope to administer electrohydraulic lithotripsy. METHODS: Five patients failing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and one patient with recurrent pancreatic duct stones after surgery were selected to undergo endoscopic electrohydraulic lithotripsy. After pancreatic sphincterotomy and balloon dilation (8 or 10 mm), the 10F endoscope was introduced and electrohydraulic lithotripsy was used to fragment stones under direct visualization. RESULTS: Six patients underwent 9 intraductal electrohydraulic lithotripsy procedures. Complete or partial pancreatic duct clearance was accomplished in all but one. No complications from the lithotripsy procedure were noted. The 5 patients with partial or complete duct clearance experienced complete relief of abdominal pain of at least 6 months' duration following their final procedure. CONCLUSION: Electrohydraulic lithotripsy within the pancreatic duct provides an adjunctive endoscopic option for treatment of patients with symptomatic pancreatic duct stones. Our initial experience suggests that electrohydraulic lithotripsy therapy can successfully fragment stones refractory to conventional endoscopic stone extraction methods or extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Further experience is necessary to establish the risks of electrohydraulic lithotripsy within the pancreatic duct.