[Diagnosis and therapy of benign stenoses of Vater's papilla]

Experience obtained from operations on 2,458 patients for benign stenosis of Vater's papilla provided a background against which a classification was made of this pathological pattern. Preoperative and intraoperative diagnostic methods and surgical techniques are discussed and are critically appraised. Endoscopic papillospincterotomy had been introduced to clinical practice in 1979 and has ever since been the optional surgical approach to Vater's papilla. Differentiated attitudes to various possible corrections of benign stenosis together with high technical standards in surgery proper have so far yielded good long-term results for 89 per cent of patients.