Treatment strategies of hepatolithiasis based on clinical classification / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Hepatolithiasis is a common biliary disease in China. Even though there was a great development in the treatment for hepatolithiasis over the past 70 years, its therapeutic effect is frustrating. At present, there is still no recognized and widely accepted guidelines for its diagnosis and treatment. Based on the 40 years of experience and recent advances in the treatment of hepatolithiasis, the author′s team developed a new classification of hepatolithiasis with four types primary type, inflammatory type, space occupying type, and terminal type. This new classification is a benefit for treatment strategy selection which is consistent with the traditional Chinese medicine theory of "the same disease with different treatment" . This new classification may be helpful to select surgical methods and time individually, in order to improve the therapeutic effect of hepatolithiasis.