[Clinical efficacy and safety of Holmium laser combined with balloon dilation in treating benign bile duct columnar stenosis].

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Holmium laser combined with balloon dilation in treating benign bile duct columnar stenosis, a retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 58 patients diagnosed with benign biliary strictures at Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital from October 2019 to October 2022. Among these patients, 31 patients underwent minimally invasive holmium laser combined with balloon dilation treatment as the study group, with an age of (58.3±5.1) years, including 13 males; 27 patients underwent hepatic segment resection as the control group, with an age of (56.3±4.9) years, including 11 males. The median follow-up time was 17.5 months (range: 12-26 months). The study group showed shorter recovery time of gastrointestinal function [(1.0±0.5) vs (3.2±1.0) d], lower medical costs [(1.2±0.2) vs (2.7±0.6) ten thousand yuan], lower incidence of cholangitis [6.5% (2/31) vs 22.2% (6/27)], lower rates of bile leakage [3.2% (1/31) vs 18.5% (5/27)], shorter hospitalization duration [(5.6±0.5) vs (8.4±1.2) d], shorter operative time [(68.5±20.5) vs (145.2±50.5) min], reduced intraoperative blood loss [(5.0±0.4) vs (80.4±17.1) ml], and lower incision infection rate [3.2% (1/31) vs 14.8% (4/27)], and lower recurrence rate of biliary stricture [6.4% (2/31) vs 33.3% (9/27)] compared to the control group (all P<0.05). The study group achieved a higher biliary stricture relief rate than the control group [96.7% (30/31) vs 85.2% (23/27), P=0.037]. The study results indicate that the combination of holmium laser and balloon dilation is effective in treating benign biliary strictures, reduces the incidence of surgical complications and recurrence of biliary strictures, and is safe and reliable, with potential for clinical application and promotion.