Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a debilitating disease that can result in chronic abdominal pain, malnutrition, and other related complications. The main aims of treatment are to control symptoms, prevent disease progression, and correct any complications. A multidisciplinary approach involving medical, endoscopic, and surgical therapy is important. Endoscopic therapy plays a specific role in carefully selected patients as primary interventional therapy when medical measures fail or in patients who are not suitable for surgery. Endoscopic therapy is also used as a bridge to surgery or as a means to assess the potential response to pancreatic surgery. This review addresses the role of endoscopic therapy in relief of obstruction of the pancreatic duct (PD) and bile du ct, closure of PD leaks, and drainage of pseudocysts in CP. The role of endoscopic ultrasound-guided celiac plexus block for pain in chronic pancreatitis is also discussed.
Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde/*methods ; Common Bile Duct ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal/methods ; Humans ; Pain/surgery ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/surgery/therapy ; Pancreatitis, Chronic/*surgery ; Sphincter of Oddi ; Stents

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) and Trucut biopsy (TCB) are sensitive techniques for diagnosing mediastinal lesions, but it is unclear how either one or both should be used to obtain a pathologic diagnosis. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether EUS-TCB impacts the diagnosis of mediastinal lesions after the initial on-site review of EUS-FNA specimen suggests a suboptimal result. METHODS: We enrolled consecutive patients with mediastinal lesions who underwent EUS-TCB during the same procedure if the initial EUS-FNA demonstrated an inadequate FNA sample or suggested that histopathology was required for diagnosis. Diagnostic accuracies between procedures were compared as the main outcome. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (14 men; median age, 56 years; range, 19 to 82 years) underwent EUS-FNA and EUS-TCB to evaluate a mediastinal lymphadenopathy or mass (n=17), to determine the cancer stage (n=3) or to exclude tumor recurrence or metastasis (n=7). The overall diagnostic accuracies of EUS-FNA and EUS-TCB were 78% and 67%, respectively (p=0.375). The combined diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA plus EUS-TCB was 82%. In six patients with nondiagnostic EUS-FNA, EUS-TCB provided a final diagnosis in one patient (17%). CONCLUSIONS: In the current series of patients with mediastinal masses or adenopathy, the administration of EUS-TCB following suboptimal results for the on-site cytology review did not increase the diagnostic yield.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Mediastinum ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic role of low serum amylase and lipase values in the detection of chronic pancreatitis. METHODS: Patients underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and were diagnosed with non-calcific chronic pancreatitis (NCCP; n=99) and calcific chronic pancreatitis (CCP; n=112). Patient serum amylase and lipase values were compared with those of healthy controls (H; n=170). RESULTS: The median serum amylase (normal range, 19 to 86 U/L) and lipase values (7 to 59 U/L) (P₂₅–P₇₅) were 47.0 (39.8 to 55.3) and 25.0 (18.0 to 35.0) for H, 34.0 (24.5 to 49.0) and 19.0 (9.0 to 30.0) for NCCP, and 30.0 (20.0 to 40.8) and 10.0 (3.0 to 19.0) for CCP, respectively. The cutoff values with the highest diagnostic accuracy for discriminating NCCP from H were 40 U/L for amylase and 20 U/L for lipase, respectively, and for CCP from H were 38 U/L for amylase and 15 U/L for lipase, respectively. For the diagnosis of NCCP with a criterion of serum amylase < 40 and lipase < 20 U/L, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values were 37.4%, 88.8%, 66.1%, and 70.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum amylase and/or lipase levels below the normal serum range are highly specific for chronic pancreatitis patients. Clinicians should not ignore low serum pancreatic enzyme values.
Amylases* ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lipase* ; Pancreatitis ; Pancreatitis, Chronic* ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to determine the risk of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (post-ERCP) bleeding among patients taking antiplatelet agents (APAs), particularly in the era of multiple APAs. METHODS: The primary outcomes were the frequency, type, and severity of ERCP-related bleeding according to the use of APAs. RESULTS: The frequencies of post-ERCP bleeding among the four different groups were 16 of 2,083 (0.8%) in the no drug group, 12 of 256 (4.7%) in the aspirin group, 3 of 48 (6.3%) in the single APA group, and 4 of 48 (8.3%) in the multiple APA group (p<0.001). In the univariate analysis, post-ERCP bleeding was associated with age, pull-type sphincterotomy, and APA and was inversely associated with balloon dilation of the biliary orifice. In the multivariate analysis, pull-type sphincterotomy (odds ratio [OR], 7.829; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.411 to 43.453; p=0.019) and country (Korea: OR, 0.124; 95% CI, 0.042 to 0.361; p<0.001) were associated with post-ERCP bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of post-ERCP bleeding was statistically higher in patients on any APA within 6 days prior to ERCP. However, in the multivariate analysis, APA use was not associated with post-ERCP bleeding. Until a large, adequately powered study to detect differences is performed, caution is recommended when considering invasive procedures during ERCP in patients on APAs.
Aspirin ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors*

Background/Aims: A calcineurin inhibitor may alter pancreatic function and inflammatory reaction. This study aimed to determine the possible pharmacologic effect of the calcineurin inhibitor, tacrolimus, on pancreatic function, and to determine its preventive effect on post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis in liver transplantation (LT) patients. Methods: The serum amylase and lipase values before and after LT were compared. The frequency of post-ERCP pancreatitis was compared between non-LT and LT patients, using propensity score matching method. Results: Median serum amylase values (normal range, 19 to 86 U/L) were 49.0 U/L (38.0 to 68.0) before LT and 27.0 U/L (19.3 to 36.8) after LT, and median serum lipase values (normal range, 7 to 59 U/L) were 40.0 U/L (26.5 to 54.0) before LT and 10.5 U/L (6.0 to 21.0) after LT. Both serum amylase and lipase values significantly decreased after LT (p < 0.001), and to a level comparable to chronic pancreatitis. There was a marginal significant difference between the non-LT and LT groups before the propensity score matching with respect to frequency of post-ERCP pancreatitis (16 [3.2%] in non-LT group vs. 2 [0.9%] in LT group, p = 0.069). After propensity score matching, a marginal significant difference still existed with respect to frequency of post-ERCP pancreatitis (7 [4.8%] in non-LT group vs. 1 [0.7%] in LT group, p = 0.067). Conclusions The immunosuppression with calcineurin inhibitor may reduce not only the pancreatic enzyme dynamics but also inciting inflammatory event including post-ERCP pancreatitis.