Objective To study the indications,feasibility and efficacy of rigid choledochoscopy via biliary fistula tracts to remove bile duct stones.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 86 patients with bile duct stones treated with rigid choledochoscopy via biliary fistula tracts at our hospital between November 2011 and July 2016.Patients with bile duct stones were divided into the percutaneous transhepatic cholangio drainage (PTCD) group and the T tube tract group.There were 40 patients who underwent lithotomy using rigid choledochoscopy via the PTCD tract and 46 patients who underwent choledocholithotomy using rigid choledochoscopy via the T-tube tract.A comparison was conducted to compare the duration of the procedures,the amount of perioperative bleeding,the postoperative complication rates and residual stone rates between the two groups.Results In the PTCD group,the average operation time was (77.0 ± 36.5) min,the amount of perioperative bleeding was (26.5 ± 54.1) ml,and the postoperative complication rate was 37.5 ％ (15/40).Complete lithotomy in one-stage was successful in 33 patients,and in two-stages in 1 patient.The residual stone rate was 15.0％ (6/40).In the T tube tract group,the average operation time was (82.5 ± 44.1) min,the amount of perioperative bleeding was (14.8 ± 21.0) ml,and the postoperative complication rate was 32.6％ (15/46).Complete lithotomy in one-stage was successful in 34 patients,and two-stages in 2 patients.The residual stone rate was 21.7％ (10/46).There were no significant differences in the residual stone rates,complication rates and operation time between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The amount of operative bleeding was significantly better in the T tube tract group than the PTCD group,(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions There was no significant differences in the clinical efficacy in the treatment of bile duct stones using choledochoscopy either via the PTCD tract or the T tube tract group.Both approaches can be used for bile duct stones.

Objective:To systematically review the profile of lymph node dissection (LND) for patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) in China.Methods:Using the key words "intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma" "intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma" "lymph node dissection" "lymphadenec-tomy" "lymph node metastasis", the databases including China Zhiwang, Wanfang, Weipu, Sinomed, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library were systematically searched. Cohort studies or randomized controlled clinical trials with intraoperative LND documentation and with analysis on the clinicopathologic characteristics or prognostic influences on patients with ICC were included into this meta-analysis from the date of database creation to April 20, 2022. The risk of bias in non-randomized controlled trials was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. A meta-analysis of preoperative imaging lymph node enlargement rates, LND rates, and pathological lymph node metastasis rates were performed using R software.Results:Thirty-three relevant studies that met the systematic evaluation criteria were included, all of which were retrospective cohort studies. All these publications were of medium to high quality. Patients’ enrollment ranged from 1993 to 2020. Patients were enrolled from 20 provinces/autonomous regions/municipalities with a total of 39 medical centers and 4 278 patients. The meta-analysis indicated that the LND rate, preoperative imaging lymph node enlargement rate, pathological lymph node metastasis rate were 47.8%(95% CI: 41.3%-54.3%), 18.5%(95% CI: 7.5%-29.6%) and 51.2%(95% CI: 43.8%-58.6%), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed the LND rate was 36.0%(95% CI: 27.0%-45.0%) in studies with a median year of enrollment before 2010, 48.3% (95% CI: 38.1%-58.6%) in studies from 2010 to 2017, and 53.3%(95% CI: 43.3%-63.2%) in studies after 2017. The LND rates were statistically different in the studies in the different periods of patient enrollment ( P=0.032). Conclusion:The meta-analysis indicated that the overall LND rate for ICC in China was not high but showed an increasing tendency.