Early Experience of Percutaneous Transhepatic Sphincteroplasty with Occlusion Balloon Evacuation of Biliary Stones in a Lagos, Nigeria Center

Untreated obstructive jaundice secondary to common bile duct stones can lead to serious metabolic and life threatening complications. Three options exist for CBD stone evacuation; endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), surgical exploration, and percutaneous transhepatic biliary intervention. Open surgical exploration has been the mainstay of management of CBD stones in Nigeria due to limited access to less invasive approaches. The availability of percutaneous transhepatic intervention can serve as an alternative. For this case series, the first consecutive patients who were treated for choledocholithiasis with percutaneous sphincteroplasty between March 2020 and December 2020 at a center in Lagos are described. A total of 6 patients underwent stone evacuation over the study period. The technical success of sphincteroplasty and CBD stone evacuation was 100% in all patients (n = 6) at the first attempt. This series illustrates that percutaneous transhepatic sphincteroplasty for clearance of biliary stones is technically feasible and available to Nigerian patients.