Effect of endoscopic sphincterotomy on bile acid pool size and bile lipid composition in man

The effect of endoscopic sphincterotomy on bile acid pool size and lipid composition was studied in 3 patients with an intact gallbladder and in 7 patients who had previous cholecystectomy. Measurements were made at two time intervals after endoscopic sphincterotomy, early (3-9 days) and late (6-9 months). Patients with an intact gallbladder showed a marked reduction in their total bile acid pool during follow-up examinations (95.3 +/- SD 14.0 vs. 18.6 +/- 8.1 mumol/kg), whereas in the cholecystectomized patients the pool size showed no significant change (29.4 +/- 13.4 vs. 26.6 +/- 11.4 mumol/kg). The reduction in bile acid pool size caused by sphincterotomy in patients with an intact gallbladder did not increase the degree of cholesterol saturation in hepatic bile.