Implementation of a Surgery-first Approach to Pediatric Choledocholithiasis.

Background: In choledocholithiasis, the obstructed common bile duct (CBD) requires clearance either via endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) or intraoperative cholangiogram (IOC) and common bile duct exploration (CBDE) during cholecystectomy. We hypothesized that patients with primary cholecystectomy (PC) and IOC/CBDE will have improved clinical outcomes when compared to primary ERCP (PE) patients.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of pediatric choledocholithiasis patients who underwent treatment at our institution between 2019 and 2023. We compared clinical and cost outcomes between PC and PE cohorts and assessed protocol compliance.

Results: We analyzed 36 PC patients and 40 PE patients. Among PC patients, 52.7% underwent postoperative ERCP of which 47.4% were negative for CBD stone. Duct-clearing procedure varied between PC and PE groups, respectively, in terms of ERCP (36.1% vs. 65%), IOC/CBDE (36.1% vs. 2.5%), and spontaneous clearance (27.8 vs. 32.5%) (p < 0.001). One-third of PC patients had CBD clearance via IOC and flush and 16.7% had successful IOC/CBDE. PC patients had longer median combined surgical/procedural anesthesia duration (186 vs. 170.5 min, p = 0.318). There were no significant differences between PC and PE patients in terms of cost of surgery/procedures or overall admission.

Conclusion: Most PC patients achieved duct clearance via IOC and spontaneous means. PC has the potential to enable earlier cholecystectomy and avoid postoperative ERCP altogether. In the setting of failed CBDE, combining a PC strategy with non-interventional monitoring may eliminate unnecessary postoperative ERCPs. Future studies should assess outcomes associated with an amended surgery-first protocol in a larger cohort.

Level of evidence: II.