Korean Journal of Pancreas and Biliary Tract  2014;19(1):37-41

doi:10.15279/kpba.2014.19.1.37

A Case of a Huge Biliary Bezoar Treated with ESWL.

Hyeok Chan KWON 1 ; Hong Ja KIM ; Yong Ho JANG ; Ji Hyun JEON ; Yo Han KIM ; Won Yong SUH ; Suk Bin JANG

Affiliations

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Keywords

Bezoar; Bile duct; Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

A bezoar is a mass formed by the accumulation of digested food. A biliary bezoar, namely a bezoar formed in the bile duct, is rare, which occurs mostly in patients who formerly underwent cholecystectomy. It appears that incompetent sphincter produces occasional reverse flow of foreign bodies including undigested food from the alimentary canal into the bile tract. Surgical treatment is used for huge biliary bezoar which is too huge to be removed by nonsurgical treatment. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is mostly used to fragment renal or urinary calculi, but may be sparingly used against biliary calculi. This is to report the rare case of a patient with biliary bezoar who formerly underwent open cholecystectomy and choledocoduodenostomy. The patient's huge biliary bezoar was removed by ESWL and the successive execution of endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography (ERCP). ESWL is expected to be a comparatively safe and convenient solution to huge biliary bezoars.