Sphincter Of Oddi Dysfunction

[sstephan]

Hi everyone,

I just had an appt with my GI doctor because I am still experiencing SEVERE pain spasms in my uopper abdominal area and back. I had my gallbladder out a year ago and this actually started AFTER the surgery. Today we discussed sphincter of Oddi spasms and I have an appt to see someone who specializes in this at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago. The diagnostic test for this is an ERCP which apparently can cause pancreatitis. There are not any doctors at my hospital that do this procedure for this reason. I am very worried about this and don't know if I should go through with this or not, but the pain spasms are worse than childbirth. (this is not an exaggeration- I use the techniques I learned in my childbirth class to get through them!) Has anyone had any experience with this or had an ERCP done?

Thank you,

Susan

[futurehope]

My 80 YO Mom had an ERCP. She had to. She had sludge from her gallbladder causing pancreatitis and the ERCP was used to clean out the duct. She came out fine.

[lthomas521]

Are you taking any morphine-type pain relievers? They can cause spasms in the sphincter of Oddi.

[MightyMouse]

OY! Do I ever understand. I was diagnosed with the sphincter of odi issues about 2 years after my gall bladder was removed. As for ERCP, it's not the safest procedure, with a substantial number of patients getting pancreatitis. So, I decided to skip the procedure. However, now, they have an MRI for that called an MRCP which is much safer than ERCP--so if I need it, that's what I would do.

The only thing is though, that it's only from an ERCP that they can ablate material that might be causing the spasms. I told my GI doc that if I had severe spasms that did not calm down with levsin, I would persue the ERCP again.

Hugs to you--I truly understand your pain. Nina