What is the ERCP Procedure?

An ERCP procedure is an outpatient service to diagnose conditions, or it may require an overnight stay in the hospital if there were treatments given during the procedure. An ERCP is a short-hand way of saying Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography.

Preparing for an ERCP

You should not drink or eat anything after midnight before your ERCP is scheduled. This is to have the stomach and the duodenum empty. You will need to alert the doctor if you are allergic to iodine, which is in the contrast dye. You will be sedated so you will need to arrange to have someone drive you back home after the procedure is over.

The ERCP Procedure

You will begin lying on the left side on a table. The examination will take place in a room with a x-ray available. The attendant will spray numbing medication on your thriat and give you a sedative to make you relax. You’ll then swallow the endoscope tube and the doctor will guide it through the throat, stomach, and duodenum. After it gets into your duodenum, you’ll turn onto your back. There will be dye injected into these ducts so that he/she can see them on the x-ray.

It can take 30 minutes to 2 hours for this procedure and there may be some discomfort. It will require a one to two hour stay in the hospital to let the sedation wear off. If there are no signs of complications from the procedure you will be allowed to go home. If a gallstone or such is removed during the procedure, they will keep you overnight for observation.

Why Get an ERCP?

This procedure helps diagnose conditions of the pancreas, bile duct, gallbladder, and liver. It can diagnose and treat these conditions such as gallstones, leaks, and cancer. The procedure uses x-rays and an endoscope, or a flexible and lighted tube, to see the inside of the stomach and duodenum. There are dyes that are injected that can be seen on x-rays to view the pancreas and biliary tree.

Source: The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, NIH Publication No. 05-4336


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