[Difficult biliary cannulation: early precut fistulotomy to avoid post ERCP pancreatitis. A retrospective analysis for two years].

BACKGROUND: Difficult biliary cannulation is a risk factor for post-ERCP pancreatitis. In these cases, precutting is the most used technique. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that precut fistulotomy is safe and effective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from May 2016 to May 2018 were reviewed. Difficult cannulation was defined as: impacted lithiasis, inadvertent cannulation of the pancreatic duct on three occasions and inability to achieve deep biliary cannulation in 3 minutes. The outcome measures were successful biliary cannulation and post-ERCP Pancreatitis. RESULTS: Precut fistulotomy was performed in 96 cases (67 women, 29 men). The success rate of biliary cannulation was 95.8% (92/96). Eighty patients had risk factors for post-ERCP pancreatitis: 29 had 1 risk factor, 26 had 2 risk factors, 19 had 3 risk factors, and 6 had four risk factors. Ampullary risk factors of difficult cannulation: impacted stone in the papilla: 9 cases, papilla bulging: 10 cases, lower location of the hole papillary 38 cases, partial location of the papillary pore 23 and papillary orifice stenosis 16 cases. Ten patients had periampullary diverticulum, 7 patients had normal bile duct. None of the patients experienced Pancreatitis. Three patients had early bleeding, one patient had late bleeding. One patient (2%) had a fever and was hospitalized. CONCLUSIONS: In cases of difficult biliary cannulation, the precut fistulotomy is safe and effective.