ERCP/MRCP

[Guest guest]

Count me as another person with disastrous ERCP results.

The first one caused pancreatitis and resulted in a 12 day hospital stay -- 8 days NPO.

My doctor 'thought" he saw a dominant stricture and insisted that he do another ERCP several weeks later. With the threat of pancreatitis, he brought in an expert from out of town to work with him. They were giddy with joy over avoiding pancreatitis during the second ERCP. NO dominant stricture was found. Hindsight leads me to believe that poking around for hours during the first ERCP caused enough edema and damage to appear to be a stricture.

What they did not know, was that a nosocomial infection was seeded in my liver during the ERCP. Low grade fevers caused the gastroenterologist to assume that my gallbladder needed to be removed and, two days before the surgery my temperature went from normal to 104.9F in 35 minutes. It was a life-threatening infection that caused abscesses in my liver and on it -- it also eroded my common bile duct. It took 2 transplant surgeons over seven hours to piece me back together and attempt to save my life. That was April 8, 1997 -- but who's counting? It took years of repeat hospitalizations to regain part of my life and I am still handicapped (bilateral vestibular loss) due to the use of gentamicin to save my life. I just got my new handicapped hangtag today.

Since then I have not allowed another ERCP, but have undergone several other procedures including MRCPs. When my gastroenterologist wanted to do another ERCP "to look around," it was the day we parted company. The risk vs. benefit for me dictated my action. Clearly, I am a person who should not and will not have another ERCP. Others of you are blessed with easy recoveries from the procedure. You are lucky!

Penny

P.S. my new GI doctor has chosen not to do ERCPs because she feels she would not do enough to maintain proficiency