[BILE DUCT PROBLEMS - ENDOSCOPIC SOLUTIONS]

Abstract

Patients with symptomatic bile duct stones are at increased risk for complications, which can be life-threatening. In the last four decades, with the development of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and biliary sphincterotomy, endoscopic treatment has almost totally replaced surgical treatment of bile duct stones. In addition, a variety of benign and malignant conditions such as iatrogenic strictures (post cholecystectomy/post liver transplant), PSC, papillary adenoma or malignant tumors of bile duct or pancreas, are now amenable to endoscopic treatment. In the early years, ERCP served as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool With the development of non-invasive imaging alternatives, ERCP became a purely therapeutic procedure. However, in recent years, advanced technologies have restored diagnostic abilities to FRCP.