The immediate effects of retrograde pancreatography on the pancreas

Endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) may be followed by elevated serum amylase or occasionally by pancreatitis. This is said to be due to the irritating effect of contrast media (CM) or to the cation content of CM. We investigated the effect of intraductally injected CM (ionic CM with and without sodium, non-ionic CM) on the porcine pancreas. All types of CM as well as control media (saline, 7% sodium bicarbonate solution) produced small foci of histological pancreatitis, although without any clinical signs of pancreatitis.