Biliary Stone Extraction

Your physician has referred you to the Diagnostic Services Department at United Hospital Center for a Biliary Stone Extraction.

A Biliary Stone Extraction is performed to retrieve and remove biliary stones.

If you are currently not a patient in the hospital, you will be asked to report to the hospital registration department two (2) hours prior to your scheduled exam. After registration, you will be escorted to a hospital room where you will be prepared for the exam. An intravenous (IV) line may be inserted into a vein in your arm.

After arriving in the Diagnostic Services Department, you will be asked to sign a consent form. You will then be placed on a radiographic table on your back. The radiologist will then remove your biliary catheter and insert another catheter through the skin into the liver biliary ducts. This catheter is called a stone-basket and is used to retrieve and remove the biliary stones. During the procedure anesthesia will be administered to relieve any pain you might experience.

Once the procedure is complete, you will be taken to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) to be watched and evaluated.

Risks involved with this exam include: infection, reaction to contrast medium (x-ray dye), bleeding, and/or perforated biliary ducts.

Your physician feels the benefits of this procedure outweigh the risks and would aid in the treatment of your medical condition.

Please DO NOT eat or drink anything after midnight of the day of your scheduled exam. However, you may take your medications with small sips of water, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

LENGTH: Approximately 2 hours

If you are pregnant, or think you might be, tell your doctor and the technologist BEFORE the exam.