Complications due to Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography: A Mini Review of Risk Factors and Diagnosis

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure performed for pancreatobiliary diseases. Procedure has many complications and most frequent is pancreatitis. Knowing the risks of the pancreatitis due to ERCP can reduce the rate of the complication and can affect its consequences. Many studies are performed for describing the risk factors of the procedure and the results are divided in two categories; patient related and endoscopy related. Patient related factors are female sex, young age, sphincter of oddi dysfunction, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm and previous pancreatitis, endoscopy related factors are unexperienced center, multiple cannulation, precut sphincterotomy, difficult cannulation, deep wire pancreatic cannulation and pancreatic or main duct contrast injection. Foreseeing the risk of the patient can reduce the complication rate of the endoscopist by selection of patients for new performers or taking precautions for the experienced ones.