[Deep duodenoscopy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography]

A survey is given on indications, results and complications of the deep duodenoscopy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography. The endoscopic retrograde pancreatography is indicated in the chronic forms of pancreatitis, in suspicion to cysts of the pancreas or tumours. Its results have a decisive influence on the indication to surgical procedure and on the planning of the intervention. The endoscopic retrograde cholangiography is of greatest practical significance for the differential diagnosis of the cholestatic icterus: non-obstructed bile ducts exclude an extrahepatic icterus and render a laparotomy useless. Furthermore, the endoscopic retrograde cholangiography is indicated when the demonstration of the duct is intravenously insufficient, when papillary or prepapillary narrowings are present and in the etiologically unclear syndrome of postcholecystectomy. The most dangerous complications of the endoscopic retrograde pancreatography are the acute pancreatitis and the infection of cysts. Cholangitides and septicaemias appear after the endoscopic retrograde cholangiography only in such cases when obstructions of the drainage are present.