Journal of Gastrointestinal & Digestive System
Open Access

Review Article

Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography: A Review of Technique and Clinical Indications

Kerollos N Wanis¹, Samson Haimanot² and Rani Kanthan^3*

¹College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

²Department of Gastroenterology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

³Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Rani Kanthan
Room 2868 G-Wing
Royal University Hospital
103 Hospital Drive, Saskatoon
Saskatchewan, S7N 0W8, Canada
Tel: 3066552158
E-mail: rani.kanthan@saskatoonhealthregion.ca

Received Date: July 08, 2014; Accepted Date: August 05, 2014; Published Date: August 12, 2014

Citation: Wanis KN, Haimanot S and Kanthan R (2014) Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography: A Review of Technique and Clinical Indications. J Gastroint Dig Syst 4:208. doi:10.4172/2161-069X.1000208

Copyright: © 2014 Wanis KN, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was introduced over 4 decades ago. This challenging procedure has evolved significantly with experienced endoscopists performing this procedure safely and effectively with almost 100% biliary cannulation success rates. Since first used for biliary drainage in patients with choledocholithiasis, ERCP continues to play a critical role in the management of biliary and pancreatic diseases. Though currently it is almost exclusively used for therapeutic purposes, it remains an important tool in the investigation of biliary disease, particularly malignancy. In this focussed review, we discuss the history, technique, and current clinical indications for ERCP.

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