Well, I just happened to be one of those rare cases that ended up with acute pancreatitis back in 1997 after seven years post gall bladder removal. It appears that a small gall stone was left behind during removal of my gall bladder in 1990. Over time, the stone grew to the point of blocking the pancreatic duct. Since I did not have my gall bladder anymore and I ended in the hospital with pancreatic enzimes through the roof and puzzled doctors! They diagnosed me with acute pancreatitis but th ultrasound showed stretching of the ducts which made doctors suspicious of stones without gall bladder (a rare situation by the way). The recommendation was to perform the ERCP to ensure there was nothing left. The procedure was pretty fast and I did not feel anything because you have to go under general anesthetic. There is always a risk like any other invasive procedure, but it needed to be done to ensure all debris and other stones were cleared from the pancreatic duct.
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Well, I just happened to be one of those rare cases that ended up with acute pancreatitis back in 1997 after seven years post gall bladder removal. It appears that a small gall stone was left behind during removal of my gall bladder in 1990. Over time, the stone grew to the point of blocking the pancreatic duct. Since I did not have my gall bladder anymore and I ended in the hospital with pancreatic enzimes through the roof and puzzled doctors! They diagnosed me with acute pancreatitis but th ultrasound showed stretching of the ducts which made doctors suspicious of stones without gall bladder (a rare situation by the way). The recommendation was to perform the ERCP to ensure there was nothing left. The procedure was pretty fast and I did not feel anything because you have to go under general anesthetic. There is always a risk like any other invasive procedure, but it needed to be done to ensure all debris and other stones were cleared from the pancreatic duct.
Best of luck!
February 18, 2009 - 11:44pmThis Comment
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