Heparin and gallstones

Gallstones were incubated in a solution of bile and heparinized saline to ascertain if heparin, by changing the zeta potential of the bile, could cause their dissolution. No changes in weight or signs of fragmentation were noted. It was concluded that the disappearance of retained common duct stones by a drip of heparinized saline into a T tube was most likely secondary to mechanical factors and not to a chemical effect of heparin.