Abstract:Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of small endoscopic sphincterotomy combined with endoscopic papillary balloon dilation (sEST+EPBD) in the treatment of choledocholithiasis in the elderly. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of 240 patients over 60 years old who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) treatment in our hospital from January 2018 to January 2019 due to choledocholithiasis. According to different surgical methods, the patients were divided into traditional endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) group and modified sEST+EPBD group. The general information, stone removal, blood amylase before and after surgery, and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 83 patients in sEST+EPBD group and 147 patients in EST group underwent successful selective bile duct cannulation and ERCP procedure, and the success rate was 95.83% (230/240). The placement of biliary plastic stent was performed in 12 patients in EST group and 25 patients in sEST+EPBD group due to oversize and overmuch stones which contributed to difficulties in one-off removal. In the cases of stone removal, the operation time in the sEST+EPBD group was shorter than that in the EST group, and the rates of mechanical lithotripsy and intraoperative bleeding in the sEST+EPBD group were lower than those in the EST group (P < 0.05). The blood amylase at 6 hours after surgery was higher in the sEST+EPBD group than that in the EST group (P < 0.05), while the blood amylase at 24 hours after surgery was lower in the sEST+EPBD group than that in the EST group (P < 0.05). As for the postoperative complications, the overall complication rate of sEST+EPBD group was lower than that of EST group (P < 0.05). Conclusions For elderly patients with choledocholithiasis, sEST combined with EPBD can better shorten the operation time, reduce the rates of mechanical lithotripsy and intraoperative bleeding, and decrease the overall complication rate. Generally, sEST combined with EPBD is safe and effective, which is of value for further clinical application.