Twenty-three years of experience with sphincterotomy and sphincteroplasty for stenosis of the sphincter of Oddi.

A 23 year experience with papillotomy, sphincterotomy and sphincteroplasty for stenosis of the sphincter of Oddi shows sphincteroplasty to be the best procedure, with 79% of the patients obtaining a good result. The procedure was done for a demonstrable organic change in the sphincter, often associated with acute cholecystitis in older patients, the postcholecystectomy syndrome in those in whom a long cystic stump had been left at the first operation or in patients with chronic recurring pancreatitis. The study included 138 private patients observed from two months to 22 years. There were four postoperative deaths, an operative mortality of 2.9%, as two patients had been operated upon twice. The poor results were associated with recurring attacks of pancreatitis not cured by the procedure or developing subsequent to it, probably being attributable to persistent obstruction of the terminal part of the pancreatic duct. The results suggest that sphincteroplasty, if performed on suitably selected patients, is a safe procedure which should give good results in more than 75% of the patients.