Gallstones are the most common disease in the biliary system in western countries.
Gallstone removed throught the Papilla Vater Gallstones in the common bile duct can usually easily be endoscopically removed through the papilla after papillotomy. In the left picture, the Papilla Vater is seen in the upper part of the picture, and a gallstone just passed out into the duodenum in the lower part. In the right picture a close up of two gallstones just extracted from the common bile duct is seen. No - they are not made of gold, although it may look like that.