Needle-knife fistulotomy vs double-guidewire technique in patients with repetitive unintentional pancreatic cannulations

AIM: To compare the success rates and adverse events of early needle-knife fistulotomy(NKF) and double-guidewire technique(DGT) in patients with repetitive unintentional pancreatic cannulations.METHODS: From a total of 1650 patients admitted for diagnostic or therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP) at a single tertiary care hospital(Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, South Korea) between January2009 and December 2012, 134(8.1%) patients with unsuccessful biliary cannulation after 5 min trial of conventional methods, together with 5 or more repetitive unintentional pancreatic cannulations, were enrolled in the study. Early NKF and DGT groups were assigned 67 patients each. In the DGT group, NKF was performed for an additional 7 min if successful cannulation was not achieved.RESULTS: The success rates with early NKF andthe DGT were 79.1%(53/67) and 44.8%(30/67)(P< 0.001), respectively. The incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis(PEP) was lower in the early NKF group than in the DGT group [4.5%(3/67) vs 14.9%(10/67),P = 0.041]. The mean cannulation times in the early NKF and DGT groups after assignment were 257 s and312 s(P = 0.013), respectively.CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that early NKF should be considered as the first approach to selective biliary cannulation in patients with repetitive unintentional pancreatic cannulations.