Help re ERCP please

[Groundhog]

Hi, 7 years ago I had serious bowel complications during surgery . I was vein fed for months which gave me gallstones. Things have settled and my bloods are ok,now but I have numerous small stones stuck in common bile duct. They don’t bother me apart from occasional dull pain in gall bladder region. I have also passed a stone in recent weeks .

I’m due to go in for ERCP on 7/9 and I’m terrified, I have ptsd after my previous surgery going wrong ( perforated my bowel). I know ERCP can be a risky procedure but I’m told to leave the stones in the CBD is also dangerous. I feel like cancelling it as I’m just so scared it will go wrong and cause me more issues.

Any positive comments re ERCP please? They don’t want to remove my gallbladder owing to the previous bowel surgeries I’ve had,

Thank you

[AyrshireK]

How are they planning to do it? With sedation only or with a general anaesthetic?

My hubby had an ERCP earlier this year due to gall stones lodged in his bile duct. As he has cirrhosis this was a big risk as they could have blocked the bile duct and caused major infection that could have killed off his currently stable liver.

As he struggles with his annual endoscopy (even heavily sedated) his consultant managed to secure him a general anaesthetic slot (rare as rocking horse doo doo at the moment).

Procedure went well with no problems - and they enlarged the entrance to his CBD during the procedure as well as removing the stones that were already there. They can't remove his gall bladder due to cirrhosis so they went for this option so any future stones shoudn't become lodged.

Maybe ask about the GA option owing to your previous bad experiences.

Best wishes, Katie

[Groundhog in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you for reply. I, glad your husbands procedure went well.They have said heavy sedation. I’m in bits at the moment snd worry the ERCP will cause more problems for me as I know they aren’t without risk. I ended up eith 2 stoma bags after the hysterectomy and the damage is permanent, it’s a long story, I have a complicated history so there is no blame as such just a rare complication. The consultant doing the ERCP has seem my MRCP and obviously feels this needs to be done as I don’t think they would do it lightly but I’m so nervous especially as I’m,not having any problems as such. I do get occasional pain but the next attack is just waiting.

Thanks for your comment

[Kakey in reply to Groundhog]

I can definitely understand your anxiety after your experience.

I've had an ERCP and also a gallstone in my common bile duct. I can promise you that the ERCP was nothing in comparison to the gallstone. I was in hospital for 2 weeks with the gallstone/jaundice situation, it was truly awful. ERCP I was in overnight, but had no complications or even pain from it. So my ERCP experience was good.

Wishing you good luck xx.

[Groundhog in reply to Kakey]

Thank you very much for that. My fear of hospitals comes from a terrible previous experience. Problem is they don’t want to remove my gallbladder so I’m thinking if I go through with this it isn’t going to cure anything as it could happen all over again as I know I have stones in gallbladder. I’m an expert over-thinker and I wish I could just get n with it

[Kakey in reply to Groundhog]

I get it, and I'm sure I would feel the same too. Best wishes xx

[Groundhog in reply to Kakey]

Thank you very much

[AyrshireK in reply to Groundhog]

They can't remove my hubbies gall bladder either due to his cirrhosis so instead they carried out both a Sphincterotomy & Sphincteroplasty during his ERCP - the sphinceterotomy removed the gallstones that were already lodged in the bile duct whilst the sphincteroplasty involved opening the mouth of the bile duct (where it meets the bowel) wider so that any future stones should just pass through without becoming lodged or causing problems.So the problems shouldn't necessarily happen again or need the procedure repeatedly.

Hopefully you'll have a successful outcome from your procedure, it must be hellish waiting when you've had such bother in the past.

Best wishes, Katie

[Groundhog in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks again , so helpful. Jus5 the thought of being cut terrifies n3 but I see what you are saying and I haven’t had any previous problems on this part of my body so hopefully should be ok. Hope your husband is doing ok after his procedures plus of course managing his ongoing problems.

I have had some pain today so it’s a subtle reminder I need to get this done , thank you again

[Groundhog]

Thank you everyone. I had the ERCP under sedation and I didn’t feel a thing. They removed 7 stones from the bile duct