Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography; A Single Tertiary Care Centre Experience from Northern Sri Lanka

This study evaluated endoscopic retrograde cholan-giopancreatography’s safety, efficacy and outcomes in a single tertiary care centre.
This retrospective analysis used data from clinical records of patients who underwent ERCP from 2019 to 2022 at Teaching Hospital Jaffna. Demographic and historical characteristics, indications, and data related to cannulation, interventions, procedural difficulties, and complications were extracted from BHT. The mean age of participants was 57.99 ± 15.33 (23 – 90 years). 52 (49.1%) were males. 54 (50.9%) were females. The procedural success rate was 95.3% (101/106). All procedures were carried out under sedation or general anaesthesia. Common indications for ERCP were bili-ary stones (76.4%, n=81) and neoplasms involving the biliary tract and pancreas (19.8%). Standard sphinc-terotomy was performed in the majority of patients (97.2%). Successful retrieval of stones was achieved in 67 (82.7%) patients, predominantly using the balloon extraction method. Duct dilatation and stenting were performed on patients with neoplasm and stricture. The primary procedural difficulty encountered was difficult cannulation. 89.6% of patients did not experience any post-procedural complications, and the ten patients who did develop complications were successfully managed. Procedural mortality of ERCP was 0.9% (n=1).
ERCP can be effectively and safely performed at cen-ters with low procedural volumes in well-experienced hands.