GALLSTONES AND ERCP (ENDOSCOPIC RETROGRADE CHOLANGIO-PANCREATOGRAPHY)

A diagnostic procedure to examine diseases of the bile ducts, liver and pancreas. It is uncomfortable but not painful, is performed under intravenous sedation, usually without general anesthesia, and has a low incidence of complications. ERCP provides important diagnostic information unobtainable by other means. Therapeutic measures can often be take at the time of ERCP to remove stones in the bile ducts or to relieve obstructions of the bile ducts, so that traditional open surgeries can be avoided. ERCP is increasingly accepted as the diagnostic and therapeutic procedure of choice in identifying and removing gallstones in the bile ducts.