Case report shows migrated surgical clip causes biliary obstruction in an elderly male, suggesting early intervention is vital.
Surgical clip migration is a rare but important cause of delayed postcholecystectomy complications. An 83-year-old man presented 8 years after laparoscopic cholecystectomy with abdominal pain and jaundice. Imaging showed biliary dilation with a 20-mm common bile duct stone. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with cholangioscopy identified a migrated surgical clip serving as the nidus. Electrohydraulic lithotripsy achieved fragmentation, followed by balloon extraction and placement of a fully covered metal stent. The patient recovered uneventfully. This case highlights the need to consider clip migration in patients with late-onset biliary obstruction after cholecystectomy and supports cholangioscopy-guided lithotripsy as a definitive therapy.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Kaur et al. (2026) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: