Background: The purpose of the study was to compare the safety and effectiveness of laparoscopic common bile duct exploration plus laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LCBDE+LC) with preoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography plus laparoscopic cholecystectomy (pre-ERCP+LC) for cholecystocholedocholithiasis.

Methods: An electronic search was performed using the following databases: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov until 1 July 2018. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing LCBDE+LC versus pre-ERCP+LC were included. The common bile duct (CBD) stone clearance rate, postoperative bile leakage, postoperative pancreatitis, morbidity, mortality, and overall hospital stay were analyzed.

Results: Twelve RCTs involving 1545 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Of the 12 RCTs, seven confirmed and five did not confirm CBD stones preoperatively. The meta-analysis showed a significantly higher CBD stone clearance rate for pre-ERCP+LC than LCBDE+LC. A similar result was found in the subgroup analysis of patients with confirmed CBD stones. A significantly lower postoperative bile leakage rate was found for pre-ERCP+LC than LCBDE+LC in all 12 RCTs and in the subgroup of patients with confirmed CBD stones. However, a significantly higher rate of pancreatitis was found in pre-ERCP+LC and in the subgroup of patients with confirmed CBD stones. LCBDE+LC was superior to pre-ERCP+LC in terms of the overall hospital stay. No significant differences were found in morbidity or mortality.

Conclusions: Pre-ERCP+LC is associated with a higher CBD stone clearance rate, lower postoperative bile leakage rate, and higher rate of pancreatitis. LCBDE+LC might help to shorten the hospital stay. Further studies on this topic are recommended.