Table 1:

Comparison of the background medical and demographic characteristics, pre-operative function and intra-operative findings in patients undergoing LABEL vs standard LCBDE (LCDBE, laparoscopic common bile duct exploration; LABEL, laser-assisted bile duct exploration by laparoendoscopy; ASA, American Society of Anaesthesiologists physical status classification; CBD, common bile duct; ERCP, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography; IQR, inter-quartile range; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; TC, transcystic route)

	LCBDE requiring LABEL (n = 36)	LCBDE not requiring LABEL (n = 143)	p value
Median age (IQR)	47 (37–70)	58 (43–71)	0.077
Gender (% male)	14 (38.9%)	46 (32.2%)	0.445
Pre-operative fitness for surgery (%)
ASA 1	18 (50%)	58 (40.6%	0.306
ASA 2	10 (27.8%)	61 (42.7%)	0.103
ASA 3	4 (11.1%)	16 (11.2%)	0.989
Medical co-morbidity (%)
Cardiovascular	13 (36.1%)	52 (36.4%)	0.978
Respiratory	4 (11.1%)	29 (20.3%)	0.205
Diabetes and other endocrine	2 (5.6%)	41 (28.7%)	0.004
Other	7 (19.4%)	45 (31.5%)	0.156
Clinical presentation (%)
Dilated CBD	10 (27.8%)	34 (23.8%)	0.618
Deranged LFTs	7 (19.4%)	48 (33.6%)	0.101
Jaundice	17 (47.2%)	36 (25.2%)	0.01
Pancreatitis	2 (5.6%)	25 (17.5%)	0.074
Previous unsuccessful ERCP	12 (33.3%)	11 (7.7%)	0.0001
Pre-operative LFTs
Median Bilirubin, mmol/l (IQR)	42 (12–112)	19 (8–50)	0.014
Median ALP, U/L (IQR)	182 (111–321)	186 (108–283)	0.367
Median ALT, U/L (IQR)	166 (51–333)	116 (48–302)	0.581
Diameter of CBD on pre-operative imaging
Median CBD diameter, mm (IQR)	12 (10–15)	10 (8–12)	0.0001
Intra-operative data
TC LCBDE (%)	29 (80.6%)	119 (83.2%)	0.784
Median number of stones (IQR)	2 (1–3)	1 (0–3)	0.007
Median size of largest stone (IQR)	10 (7–15)	5 (4–7)	0.0001
Median operative time, min (IQR)	135 (115–175)	112 (90–145)	0.001