Migration of Surgical Clips into the Common Bile Duct after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is currently the treatment of choice for symptomatic gallstones. Associated complications include bile duct injury, retained common bile duct (CBD) stones, and migration of surgical clips. Clip migration into the CBD can present with recurrent cholangitis over a period of time. Retained CBD stones can be another cause of recurrent cholangitis. A case of two surgical clips migrating into the common bile duct with few retained stones following LC is reported here. The patient had repeated episodes of fever, pain at epigastrium, jaundice, and pruritus 3 months after LC. Liver function tests revealed features of obstructive jaundice. Ultrasonography of the abdomen showed dilated CBD with few stones. In view of acute cholangitis, an urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was done, which demonstrated few filling defects and 2 linear metallic densities in the CBD. A few retained stones along with 2 surgical clips were removed successfully from the CBD by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography after papillotomy using a Dormia basket. The patient improved dramatically following the procedure.