Bile Duct Diseases

STUDY TYPE: Feasibility study STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, multicenter, single-arm, open-label PRIMARY OBJECTIVE The primary objective is to assess safety of the UNITY Balloon-expandable Biodegradable Biliary Stent System SECONDARY OBJECTIVES Clinical /Technical /Procedural success, Quality of Life improvement, biodegradation rate

The goal of this longitudinal observational cohort study is to examine the changes in the composition and diversity of gut microbiome and systemic metabolome in patients with symptomatic gallbladder stones with or without concomitant common bile duct (CBD) stones who will be undergoing cholecystectomy with or without prior endoscopic sphincterotomy (ERCP-ES) and CBD stones extraction. The main questions it aims to answer are whether there are: * differences in gut microbiome diversity and composition before and after cholecystectomy * differences in systemic metabolome before and after cholecystectomy * gut microbiome and systemic metabolome changes after cholecystectomy Participants will be asked to provide stool, urine, plasma and saliva samples prior to and 1-6 months after cholecystectomy. For patients with concomitant CBD stones who undergo ERCP-ES before cholecystectomy, bile specimens will be collected from the bile duct during ERCP-ES as well as the gallbladder and/or during cholecystectomy.

Selective bile duct cannulation is the most important step in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for treatment of benign and malignant pancreatobiliary diseases, but it may fail in up to 15% of cases. Precut papillotomy is an advanced ERCP cannulation technique recommended by guidelines for rescue of difficult biliary access, but it is not without limitations. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided biliary drainage is a novel interventional EUS technique that has been increasingly performed after failed biliary access by advanced ERCP cannulation techniques.

Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic surgery is associated with substantial risk of postoperative complications. Albumin is a negative acute phase protein. Its rapid decline may be due to degree of inflammation due to surgical procedures. The decline may due to multifactorial causes. Currently, contemporary data regarding the time to recovery of albumin, as a marker for early recovery of patient from surgical stress is sparse. Delta albumin is influenced by perioperative fluid administration and albumin supplementation. Delta albumin may not reflect the true surgical stress. Early post op albumin is a reflection of intraoperative events and not postoperative recovery or events and is unpredictable. Shorter recovery time of albumin is associated with less post op complications and hospital stay. Earlier recovery of albumin predicts lower morbidity and shorter hospital stay.

This is a randomized trial to compare the standard echoendoscope with the newly developed EndoSound Visual System in the evaluation of lesions in the gastrointestinal tract.

The main aims of this study are: 1. \- to evaluate post-surgical morbidity and mortality outcomes, following the criteria and the definitions from Claven-Dindo and ISGPS international classifications, of the patients operated by the HPB Surgical Unit. 2. \- to evaluate survival and disease-free survival rates of the patients operated by the HPB Surgical Unit due to tumoral cause.