Endoscopic sphincterotomy. A preliminary report.

Early experience with endoscopic sphincterotomy in 13 patients is recorded. Sphincterotomy was successfully carried out in 11 patients. The only complication noted was a haemorrhage in 1 case, for which the patient required 1 unit of blood. Routine endoscopy and extraction of residual calculi by means of a balloon catheter or Dormia basket have not been practised. Instead, an expectant policy is being put to the test, and patients are followed up chiefly by means of intravenous cholangiography. The anatomical basis of endoscopic sphincterotomy is discussed in detail, and a plea is made for standard terminology.