Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

The development of side-viewing duodenoscopes in the 1970s, in conjunction with papillary cannulation techniques, enabled the fluoroscopy-based radiological visualization of the bile and pancreatic ducts. This was soon supplemented by therapeutic interventions, starting with the first description of endoscopic papillotomy in 1974. The endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) differs from many other endoscopic procedures in that it is typically planned as a therapeutic intervention today. The purely diagnostic ERCP can often be replaced by less invasive procedures such as (endo-)sonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging/MR-cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). In contrast, therapeutic ERCP for the treatment of bile duct and pancreatic concrements, duct strictures, and palliative therapy of carcinomas has been supplemented by new modalities and has grown in its importance.