Novel 8‐wire basket catheter is useful for endoscopic removal of common bile duct stones up to 10 mm: A multicenter prospective study

Background/Purpose Endoscopic treatment of common bile duct (CBD) stones involves the use of basket or balloon catheters; however, what is the appropriate device remains controversial. In this study we aimed to prospectively evaluate the usefulness of a novel 8‐wire helical basket (8WB) catheter made of Nitinol for the removal of CBD stones ≤10 mm. Methods We conducted a multicenter prospective trial. Patients with CBD stones ≤10 mm were enrolled. The primary endpoint was the rate of complete stone removal within 10 min using the 8WB. The number of cases was determined using a previous study of stone removal by a conventional basket catheter as a historical control. Results A total of 155 patients were enrolled and 139 were ultimately included in the analysis. Patients with a single stone were the most common (84 cases, 60.4%), with a median maximum stone diameter of 5 mm. The median stone removal time using the 8WB was 6 min. The complete stone removal rate was 95.0% (132/139). Adverse events were observed in 14 patients (10.1%). Conclusions The novel 8WB catheter is useful in the treatment of CBD stones ≤10 mm, presenting a high complete stone removal rate in this study. Trial registration number: jRCT1032200324. In this multicenter prospective study, Kaneko and colleagues reported the high utility of a novel 8‐wire basket catheter in the removal of common bile duct stones up to 10 mm, with high complete stone removal rates. They conclude that this device should be considered for use in endoscopic stone removal.