There are no guidelines addressing whether a routine drainage should be performed after endoscopic stone extraction in patients with cholelithiasis. However, many endoscopists tend to insert a nasobiliary tube or a biliary stent for prevention of post-ERCP complications. The main concern is that potential residual debris or ampullary edema caused by repeated endoscopic manipulations may disturb normal biliary drainage. Considering the shortcomings of nasobiliary tube and regular stent,we designed a novel plastic spiral stent, which can be expelled in the help of intestinal peristalsis, avoiding repeated duodenoscopy for stent removal, as well as the discomfort caused by nasobiliary catheter. Evaluate the efficacy of a plastic spiral stent for short-term biliary drainage and whether it expelled automatically. : Over a 1-year period, 12 spiral stents were placed for short-term biliary drainage in 12 patients with cholelithiasis who underwent stones extraction by using of endoscopic sphincterotomy, endoscopic papillary balloon dilatation and/or mechanical lithotripsy. No post-ERCP pancreatitis or bleeding occurred, as well as stent related intestinal injuries. All biliary drainages were effective, and all inserted spiral stents were expelled automatically when the patients moved bowels. The median duration from stent placement to expulsion was 4 days (range 2 to 30). Endoscopic placement of a plastic spiral stent for short-term biliary drainage seems a promising therapy in selected patients.Table 1Patient characteristics.Patient numberSexAge, yearsStone numberStone size, cmEndoscopic interventionDuration from stent placement to expulsion, daysHospital stay after stent placement, days1F43Multiple1.6EST+EPBD222M78Single1.0EST+EPBD+ML373F63Multiple1.5EPBD324M60Multiple1.0EST+EPBD435M56Multiple0.9EST+ML436M80Multiple1.2EST+EPBD+ML437F53Multiple1.2EPBD+ML498F79Single0.7EST+ML1149F80Multiple1.4EST+EPBD+ML21*1010M79Multiple1.5EST+EPBD30*811F76Multiple1.6EST+EPBD+ML30*312F74Multiple1.5ML30*3F, female; M, male; EST, endoscopic sphincterotomy; EPBD, endoscopic papillary balloon dilatation; ML, mechanical lithotripsy; *Patient 8-12 did not notice the expelled spiral stents, the absence of which were proved by radiology. Open table in a new tab