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ENDOSCOPIC SPHINCTEROTOMY OF THE PAPILLA OF VATER: AN ANALYSIS OF 300 CASES
Author(s) -
ROBERTSTHOMSON I. C.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1984.tb05010.x
Subject(s) - medicine , sphincter of oddi , major duodenal papilla , cholecystectomy , cholangiography , common bile duct , pancreatitis , bile duct , surgery , ampulla of vater , sphincter , general surgery , gastroenterology , carcinoma
Endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed on 300 patients with biliary and/or pancreatic disease during the period 1978–1983. The most frequent indications were choledocholithiasis after cholecystectomy (59%), choledocholithiasis without cholecystectomy (17%) and presumed motility disorders of the sphincter of Oddi (15%). In choledocholithiasis, stones passed spontaneously or were extracted from the bile duct in 147 of 164 patients (90%) in whom the outcome was determined by cholangiography immediately after stone extraction or by a second retrograde cholangiogram. In presumed motility disorders, only 51% of patients have shown sustained improvement in symptoms. Complications were uncommon (5%) but included bleeding from the margins of the incision, pancreatitis, cholangitis and an entrapped Dormia basket; no patient died. Duodenal diverticula were more frequent (p<0.005) in patients with bile duct stones after cholecystectomy (28%) than in patients in whom retrograde cholangiography did not reveal stones (9%) but the presence of diverticula did not influence the outcome of the procedure. Endoscopic sphincterotomy is a safe and effective procedure of particular relevance to elderly patients with choledocholithiasis after cholecystectomy and to high‐risk patients with choledocholithiasis without cholecystectomy.