Study	Reason for exclusion
Cavina 1998	A controlled non‐randomised clinical study with three equally numbered study groups: 16 people with cholelithiasis underwent LERV; 16 people with common bile duct stones underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy before laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and 16 people with papillitis underwent open cholecystectomy and transduodenal sphincterotomy.
Ding 2013	A controlled non‐randomised clinical study with two groups of persons with cholelithiasis and common bile duct stones or papillitis: 70 underwent LERV and 80 underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy before laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
El Geidie 2011	A controlled non‐randomised clinical study with two groups of participants with cholelithiasis and common bile duct stones or papillitis: 21 underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy combined with intraoperative endoscopic sphincterotomy and 17 had endoscopic sphincterotomy before laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In the early patients, the investigators tried to pass a guided wire through the cystic duct into the CBD to facilitate bile duct cannulation at subsequent endoscopy (the LERV technique described by Cavina and colleagues), but they found it technically difficult, and also experienced difficulties during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (due to bowel insufflation), so this step was omitted in most cases.
Filauro 2000	A controlled non‐randomised clinical trial of two groups of participants with cholelithiasis and common bile duct stones or papillitis: 21 underwent LERV and 17 had endoscopic sphincterotomy before laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
La Greca 2008	A controlled non‐randomised clinical trial: 21 underwent LERV and 17 had endoscopic sphincterotomy before laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Miscusi 1997	A controlled non‐randomised clinical trial with three groups of participants with cholelithiasis and common bile duct stones or papillitis: 8 underwent LERV, 73 had endoscopic sphincterotomy before laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and 16 combined laparoscopic cholecystectomy and CBD exploration (LCBDE).
Tekin 2008	A controlled non‐randomised clinical trial with two groups of participants with cholelithiasis and common bile duct stones or papillitis: 35 underwent LERV and 41 had endoscopic sphincterotomy before laparoscopic cholecystectomy.