ERCP effect of common bile duct stones

Everyone should have heard of gallstones. If gallstones are not treated in time, they can cause blockage of the bile duct, thus affecting the overall digestive system. Among them, common bile duct stones are a more serious gallstone problem. During the treatment of common bile duct stones, doctors will recommend patients to undergo ERCP treatment surgery. ERCP surgery can be regarded as the best treatment for common bile duct stones, but what is the effect of using ERCP to treat common bile duct stones?

Common bile duct stones refer to stones located in the common bile duct. Most of them are pigment stones or mixed stones mainly composed of pigments, and they are more common at the lower end of the common bile duct.

The most typical clinical manifestations of common bile duct stones are three major groups of symptoms: upper abdominal colic and penetrating back pain, chills, high fever and subsequent jaundice. If the lower end of the bile duct is completely obstructed, the cystic duct is unobstructed, and the gallbladder wall has not yet fibrosized and atrophied, there will be an enlarged and tender cystic mass in the right upper abdomen; the liver will be symmetrically, diffusely enlarged and tender; the patient will show a series of toxic symptoms such as remittent high fever, liver cell damage and bile stasis, which are collectively called acute obstructive suppurative cholangitis. If the patient seeks medical treatment too late or the obstruction is not relieved promptly and effectively, the infection will worsen, leading to systemic toxemia and toxic shock, resulting in severe acute obstructive suppurative cholangitis (ACST), which may cause serious complications or even be life-threatening.

Endoscopic retrograde choledochal coronary artery thrombosis (ERCP) is currently the preferred method for the treatment of common bile duct stones. Just like doing a gastroscopy, the electronic duodenoscope is inserted from the mouth, through the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum to the duodenal papilla (the opening of the bile and pancreatic duct into the duodenum), angiography is first performed for accurate diagnosis, and then the papillary sphincter is incised or dilated, and then the stone is removed under direct vision with a stone basket. There is no incision in the abdomen, and the effect is immediate!

What is ERCP?

ERCP is the abbreviation of "endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography". This technology is a therapeutic operation extended on the basis of digestive endoscopy. It is the most advanced high-tech technology in the treatment of bile duct stones. Figuratively speaking, it is like doing a "gastroscopy". After inserting the duodenoscope from the mouth into the duodenum, the duodenal papilla (the common opening of the bile and pancreatic ducts) is found, and the ERCP special instrument is used to diagnose and treat bile duct and pancreatic duct diseases.