Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has proven to be a very useful method in the diagnosis of most diseases of the biliary tract. In particular it displays a great accuracy in diagnosing extrahepatic biliary disease, making it the gold standard compares to other diagnostic studies in this field. It further plays a major and most important role in the differentiation between benign and malignant extrahepatic biliary disorders. Despite its preponderance in extrahepatic biliary tract conditions, endoscopic selective biliary cannulation has also offered important improvements in the diagnosis of gallbladder and intrahepatic duct system diseases. It is however worth noting that the diagnostic accuracy of ERCP very much relies on the endosco-pist’s experience