Published online Apr 7, 2011. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v17.i13.1787
Revised: November 3, 2010
Accepted: November 10, 2010
Published online: April 7, 2011
Therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the mainstay treatment for bile duct disease. The procedure is difficult per se, especially when a side-viewing duodenoscope is used, and when the patient has altered anatomical features, such as colonic interposition. Currently, there is no consensus on the standard approach for therapeutic ERCP in patients with total esophagectomy and colonic interposition. We describe a novel treatment design that involves the use of a side-viewing duodenoscope to perform therapeutic ERCP in patients with total esophagectomy and colonic interposition. A gastroscope was initially introduced into the interposed colon and a radio-opaque standard guidewire was advanced to a distance beyond the papilla of Vater, before the gastroscope was withdrawn. A side-viewing duodenoscope was then introduced along the guidewire under fluoroscopic guidance. After cannulation into the papilla of Vater, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) revealed a filling defect (maximum diameter: 15 cm) at the distal portion of the common bile duct (CBD). This defect was determined to be a stone, which was successfully retrieved by a Dormia basket after complete sphincterotomy. With this treatment design, it is possible to perform therapeutic ERCP in patients with colonic interposition, thereby precluding the need for percutaneous drainage or surgery.