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Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, is a highly specialised procedure done under anaesthetic to assess and treat the ducts of the gallbladder, pancreas and liver.

The special endoscope (a thin, flexible tube) is passed through your mouth into the first part of the small intestine (duodenum). This is the area where the bile duct and pancreatic duct connect to the intestine. A small plastic instrument is placed through the endoscope and passed into the bile duct and pancreatic duct and then x-ray contrast dye is injected in order to obtain a picture of the ducts. In some cases a small cut is made into the muscle surrounding the bile duct (“sphincterotomy”) to allow better drainage of the bile duct or to perform other procedures like stone removal, biopsies, stent placement (drainage tubes), or to stretch narrowings of the bile duct.