Stomach

Esophagus

Duodenum

Pancreas

Gall Bladder

What is an endoscope?

This a flexible lighted scope that is inserted through your mouth down your esophagus into your stomach, and duodenum until it reaches the spot where the ducts from your pancreas and gallbladder drain into the duodenum.

An ERCP is short for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram. Now you understand the abbreviation .What words to say or pronounce. ERCP contain detect early signs of growths and a sample can be taken for further testing. If you have gallstones present in your bile duct , the doctor may remove the stone with another instrument inserted through the endoscope which is in place. Narrowed bile ducts can be opened by inserting a small tube or a stent through the endoscope and down into the duct.

The patient is not to eat or drink for eight hours prior to the procedure. You need to talk to your physician before this procedure about your present medications you are taking. Any concerns you may have need to be addressed to your physician. Patients are under a local anesthesia. The procedure is about 30 minutes to 45 minutes and a 45 minutes to a hour in recovery. This is a very simple procedure.

There are risks with this procedure just like any other procedure you may develop:

Bleeding from the pancreatic ducts if they are enlarged or from the section from where biopsies were taken.

An abnormal heart rhythm

Infection in the bile ducts, if gallstones were removed

Inflammation of the pancreas

A puncture in the esophagus; stomach; bile duct; duodenum or pancreatic duct. If you receive a puncture in any of the above , it will require lengthy surgery.

Many older adults with chronic health conditions and heart patients experience a greater chance of developing problems after this procedure . Before having this procedure done , talk to your doctor about any possible risk he may think you could have during or after this procedure.

Before the endoscope equipment was available, many doctors would do exploratory surgery , hoping to find the cause and repair it. Today, many procedures can be done with the endoscope and patients recover faster and return to work and normal life.

Take a preventive measure and keep check on your inner organs. This could save your life.