[Diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities in suspected Oddi's sphincter dysfunction]

Endoscopic manometry and quantitative cholescintigraphy are the diagnostic cornerstones for the detection of suspected sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. In patients with recurrent biliary pain after cholecystectomy, endoscopic manometry proves an elevated sphincter of Oddi baseline pressure as the most common finding. The probability for the detection of an elevated baseline pressure in these patients is significantly correlated with the presence of certain clinical features (i.e. biliary pain and/or cholestasis and/or dilated bile duct and/or delayed drainage of contrast material after ERCP). Therefore, these features enable a clinical classification of patients with suspected sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Isolated baseline pressure elevations in the pancreatic portion of the sphincter of Oddi were reported in patients with recurrent, idiopathic, acute pancreatitis. In patients with biliary sphincter dysfunction, therapeutic relief can be expected from pharmacological therapy, but controlled studies are lacking. However, the clinical value of endoscopic sphincterotomy could be established in this field. Despite endoscopic manometry is not a prerequisite for the performance fo endoscopic sphincterotomy in every case of suspected sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, in most patients endoscopic manometry allows the only definitive diagnosis of sphincter dysfunction. Further on, the clinical value of semi-invasive methods as alternative treatment strategies (i.e. botulinum-toxin, transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation, balloon dilation) for sphincter of Oddi dysfunction has to be evaluated in the future.