preGallstep - A Clinical Pilot Trial

Plain-language summary

In Denmark, more than 7500 cholecystectomies are performed every year. Common bile duct gallstones (CBDS) are found in 3.4% to 18% of patients undergoing cholecystectomy. A two-step approach including endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) with stone extraction and papillotomy with subsequent laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become gold standard for treatment of CBDS in Denmark. However, ERC is associated with a high risk of complications and more than 50% of patients require multiple ERCs. Recent meta analyses find that a one-step approach might be superior in terms of safety, CBDS clearance rate, hospital stay, operative time, hospital cost and stone recurrence, but much more data is needed. The preGallstep trial is an investigator-initiated multicentre randomised clinical pilot trial with blinded outcome assessment investigating a novel one-step laparoscopic cholecystectomy with common bile duct exploration and stone extraction versus conventional two-step endoscopic retrograde cholangiography with stone extraction plus a subsequent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for patients with CBDS. After enrolment, the participant will be randomised to one of the two treatment approaches. Adult patients with imaging confirmed CBDS are eligible for inclusion. Potential postoperative complications will be assessed within 90 days following the procedure. The primary outcome is the proportion of serious adverse events (corresponding to a Clavien-Dindo score II or above) requiring re-intervention within 90 days of the initial procedure. This outcome will be used for a future sample size calculation. The sample size estimate, the inclusion rate and the estimated length of subsequent trial will be used to determine the feasibility of a large pragmatic and confirmatory trial. We hypothesize that the one-step approach will significantly reduce the risk of complications and number of treatments needed thereby making a difference to hundreds of people in Denmark each year.

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