Endoscopic papillary balloon dilation (EPBD) and endoscopic papillary large balloon dilation (EPLBD) have been performed all around the world over several decades for the treatment of common bile duct stone. EPBD using small dilation balloon catheter can preserve sphincter of Oddi function and reduce the recurrence rate of bile duct stone compared to endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST). EPBD is a procedure with low risk of bleeding, which is appropriate for patients with coagulopathy, hepatic cirrhosis, end-stage of renal disease, and surgically altered anatomy such as Billroth II gastrectomy and periampullary diverticulum. However, it has a higher risk of postprocedure pancreatitis than EST. EPLBD using large balloon catheter (12 mm or more of diameter) is proper for more than 10 mm of common bile duct stone. The advantages of EPLBD are reduced need for mechanical lithotripsy with decreased procedure time and radiation exposure time irrespective of the precedence of EST. EPLBD also requires fewer endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography sessions and is more cost-effective. The incidence of post-procedure pancreatitis is lower in EPLBD than EST. If EPBD and EPLBD are done under the guidelines, these would be safe and effective and may be alternatives to EST for common bile duct stone.
Bile Ducts ; Catheters ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Choledocholithiasis ; Common Bile Duct ; Diverticulum ; Gastrectomy ; Gastroenterostomy ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lithotripsy ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Pancreatitis ; Radiation Exposure ; Recurrence ; Sphincter of Oddi ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic

Recurrent acute pancreatitis (RAP) is defined as two or more true episodes of acute pancreatitis and about 20% of patients with acute pancreatitis experience at least one episode of recurrence. In about 10% of RAP, no definite etiology is found despite extensive evaluation. This entity is called idiopathic acute pancreatitis (IAP). Toxic-metabolic, idiopathic, genetic, autoimmune, recurrent and severe acute pancreatitis, obstructive (TIGAR-O) classification is commonly used to identify risk factors for RAP. Modalities employed to find causes of RAP and IAP include meticulous history taking, blood tests, diagnostic imaging, genetic testing, bile crystal analysis, endoscopic ultrasonography, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with/without sphincter of Oddi manometry. Each modality is briefly reviewed in this review.
Bile ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Endosonography ; Genetic Testing ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Manometry ; Pancreatitis ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Sphincter of Oddi

Functional dyspepsia is a very common disease and there are two types of dyspepsia. One is functional dyspepsia in the gastrointestinal tract and the other is pancreatobiliary dyspepsia. Biliary dyspepsia is caused by biliary tract disease and can even cause biliary pain. Acalculous biliary pain (ABP) is biliary colic without gallstones, it is caused by functional biliary disorder or structural disorders such as microlithiasis, sludges or parasitic infestation like Clonorchiasis. The endoscopic ultrasonography is helpful tool for differential diagnosis of ABP. Although sphincter of Oddi manometry (SOM) is performed for the confirmative diagnosis of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD), several non-invasive tests have been studied because of some practical limitations and invasiveness of SOM itself. In fact, the most clinically used easy test to diagnose functional biliary disorder is quantitative hepatobiliary scintigraphy and it can distinguish gallbladder dyskinesia, SOD, or combined type. Initial treatment of functional biliary disorder is adequate dietary control and medication, but if the symptoms worsened or recurred frequently, laparoscopic cholecystectomy could be performed with gallbladder dyskinesia. If SOD is suspected, additional SOM should be considered and endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) can be done according to the outcome. If the SOM is not available, the patient could be diagnosed by stimulated ultrasound.
Biliary Dyskinesia ; Biliary Tract Diseases ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Clonorchiasis ; Colic ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dyspepsia* ; Endosonography ; Gallstones ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Manometry ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Sphincter of Oddi ; Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic ; Ultrasonography

Acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) refers to a clinical condition characterized by repeated episodes of acute pancreatitis, diagnosed retrospectively after at least the second episode of acute pancreatitis. It is still controversial that acute pancreatitis can progress to chronic pancreatitis, and acute, acute recurrent and chronic pancreatitis is a continuum of disease. The causes of ARP can be divided into mechanical, hereditary and metabolic factor. Despite recent advances in diagnostic technologies, the etiology of ARP still remains unknown in up to 30% of cases. Especially in recurrent episode of idiopathic pancreatitis, a clinician should be considered not only the common causes of ARP, such as gallstone disease and alcohol, but also rare causes of ARP. The common causes of 'idiopathic' recurrent pancreatitis are microlithiasis, sludge, sphincter of oddi dysfunction, pancreas divisum and hereditary pancreatitis. Various treatment options, such as cholecystectomy, endoscopic sphincterotomy, medical and surgery can be applied according to the identified etiology of ARP and treatment should be individualized. Currently, endoscopic treatment is increasingly performed and served as a curative treatment strategy. The medical treatment can be an option in microlithiasis and sludge, but it has limitation in terms of systemic side effect, efficacy and lack of long term outcome. Endoscopic treatment should be considered in selected patients with identifiable cause, and post procedural complication should be considered before endoscopic treatment.
Cholecystectomy ; Diagnosis ; Gallstones ; Humans ; Pancreas ; Pancreatitis* ; Pancreatitis, Chronic ; Retrospective Studies ; Sewage ; Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The reproducibility of sphincter of Oddi manometry (SOM) measurements and results of SOM after sphincterotomy has not been studied sufficiently. The aim of our study is to evaluate the reproducibility of SOM and completeness of sphincter ablation. METHODS: The recently published Evaluating Predictors and Interventions in sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (EPISOD) study included 214 subjects with post-cholecystectomy pain, and fit the criteria of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction type III. They were randomized into 3 arms, irrespective of manometric findings: sham (no sphincterotomy), biliary sphincterotomy, and dual (biliary and pancreatic). Thirty-eight subjects had both biliary and pancreatic manometries performed twice, at baseline and at repeat endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography after 1-11 months. Sham arm was examined to assess the reproducibility of manometry, and the treatment arms to assess whether the sphincterotomies were complete (elevated pressures were normalized). RESULTS: Biliary and pancreatic measurements were reproduced in 7/14 (50%) untreated subjects. All 12 patients with initially elevated biliary pressures in biliary and dual sphincterotomy groups normalized after biliary sphincterotomy. However, 2 of 8 subjects with elevated pancreatic pressures in the dual sphincterotomy group remained abnormal after pancreatic sphincterotomy. Paradoxically, normal biliary pressures became abnormal in 1 of 15 subjects after biliary sphincterotomy, and normal pancreatic pressures became abnormal in 5 of 15 patients after biliary sphincterotomy, and in 1 of 9 after pancreatic sphincterotomy. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that SOM measurements are poorly reproducible, and question whether we could adequately perform pancreatic sphincterotomy.
Arm ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Humans ; Manometry* ; Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction ; Sphincter of Oddi* ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic

No abstract available.
Manometry* ; Sphincter of Oddi*

No abstract available.
Manometry* ; Sphincter of Oddi*

Acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) most commonly results from alcohol abuse or gallstone disease. Nevertheless, the initial evaluation fails to detect the cause of ARP in 20% to 30% of patients, who are thus diagnosed with idiopathic pancreatitis. Further evaluation is indicated in patients with a severe initial attack of acute pancreatitis or those with two or more attacks. This evaluation might include one or more of the following procedures: specialized laboratory studies, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Based on our experience, the initial step in this evaluation should be MRCP or EUS because of the high safety and diagnostic yield of these techniques. If MRCP or EUS is negative, then ERCP with sphincter of Oddi manometry, intraductal ultrasonography (IDUS), or bile analysis should be considered.
Alcoholism ; Bile ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Cholangiopancreatography, Magnetic Resonance ; Diagnosis ; Endosonography ; Gallstones ; Humans ; Manometry ; Pancreatitis* ; Sphincter of Oddi ; Ultrasonography

Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD) is a syndrome of chronic biliary pain or recurrent pancreatitis due to the functional obstruction of the pancreaticobiliary flow. We report a case of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic abdominal pain due to SOD. The patient had a history of cholecystectomy and had suffered from chronic right upper quadrant abdominal pain. The patient had been diagnosed as having SOD. The patient was treated with opioid analgesics and nerve blocks, including a splanchnic nerve block. However, two years later, the pain became intractable. We implanted percutaneous SCS at the T5-7 level for this patient. Visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain and the amount of opioid intake decreased. The patient was tracked for more than six months without significant complications. From our clinical case, SCS is an effective and alternative treatment option for SOD. Further studies and long-term follow-up are necessary to understand the effectiveness and the limitations of SCS on SOD.
Abdominal Pain ; Analgesics, Opioid ; Cholecystectomy ; Humans ; Nerve Block ; Pancreatitis ; Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction* ; Spinal Cord Stimulation* ; Splanchnic Nerves ; Visceral Pain* ; Visual Analog Scale

Ampulla of Vater (AoV) is a small dilated duct less than 1.5 cm long, formed by the union of pancreatic duct and common bile duct. AoV has also anatomic layer of mucosa, sphincter of Oddi, perisphincteric or duodenal submucosa, and duodenal proper muscle, which corresponds to mucosa, muscularis mucosa, submucosa, and proper muscle layer of other gastrointestinal tract organs, respectively. Because of its small compact size and variation of anatomic structure, it is sometimes difficult to identify layering architecture of AoV. This anatomic difficulty may cause some problem in T classification of ampullary carcinoma (AC). The most confusing point in T classification is the vague definition of T2, "Tumor invades duodenal wall". It seems that duodenal wall includes duodenal mucosa, submucosa, and proper muscle layer. However there is no precise description or definition about duodenal wall that might lead personal variation in T classification of AC staging. We found that clinical course of AC with perisphincteric and/or duodenal submucosal invasion is more close to AC with T2 than T1. Although it is described as T1b according to T classification scheme of ordinary gastrointestinal tract cancer, we thought AC with T1b may have more high-grade malignant potential than those of other gastrointestinal (GI) tract malignancy. AC showed various clinicopatholgic findings that represent heterogeneous tumor groups within category of AC. Recently site-specific classification of AC was introduced, and it showed relatively well-categorized clinical prognosis. It may be reasonable to understand site-specific tumorigenesis in AC. The standard gross protocol is needed to evaluate pathologic T classification of AC. In conclusion, ampullary neoplasm is composed of various subtypes, which require a separate approach according to anatomic epicenter of ampullary neoplasm. Although submucosal invasion in AC was classified into pT1b, its' biologic behavior is more close to pT2.
Ampulla of Vater ; Carcinogenesis ; Classification ; Common Bile Duct ; Duodenum ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Mucous Membrane ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Prognosis ; Sphincter of Oddi