Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in the diagnosis of jaundice

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was successfully accomplished in 395 patients or 97 per cent of the patients in whom it was attempted. Of 157 patients with cholestatic type jaundice, satisfactory endoscopic retrograde cholangiography or cholangiopancreatography was accomplished in 145 (92 per cent), with only one complication. ERCP excluded extrahepatic biliary ductal obstruction and thus avoided unnecessary surgical exploration in forty-nine patients with cholestatic jaundice. ERCP established the diagnosis of obstructive jaundice in ninety-six patients and delineated the site of ductal obstruction and probable cause. ERCP revealed additional significant previously undiagnosed upper gastrointestinal pathologic changes in 25 per cent of jaundiced patients.