Interventional treatment of chronic pancreatitis

Abstract

Endoscopic treatment of chronic pancreatitis is becoming a reality: more and more endoscopy centres are developing the technique, and it is no longer a matter of extreme specialization. Among treatments which have been shown to be feasible, it is possible to distinguish between those approaches that are now considered as efficient with good results and very low risk (e.g. MPD drainage), or are efficient but with risks that seem to be lower than those of surgery (e.g. drainage of cysts), and drainage of the main bile duct, which is easy to perform, but, so far, has not been demonstrated enough as useful.