ENDOSCOPIC SPHINCTEROTOMY IN ACUTE GALLSTONE PANCREATITIS AND CHOLANGITIS - A SAUDI HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE

Thirty-five patients with acute gallstone pancreatitis and/or cholangi tis underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy. In 15 out of 18 patients with acute gallstone pancreatitis, common bile duct (CBD) stones, 5 of whi ch were impacted, were removed. This resulted in prompt improvement in 12 of these patients. Eleven patients had acute gallstone cholangitis in ten of whom - including one patient who had cholangiocarcinoma ass ociated with Clonorchis sinensis - CBD stones were extracted. Six othe r patients had both acute pancreatitis and cholangitis, one of whom ha d a chololedochal cyst and had surgery; another patient with a post-su rgical CBD fistula and retained stone, improved following stone extrac tion and nasobiliary tube insertion. The duration of hospitalization r anged between 5 and 19 days in the 26 patients treated endoscopically, and between 25 and 90 days in the 9 surgically treated patients.