ERCP while having pancreatitis...is it dangerous?cjw

[cjw]

We have a six year old son who has had pancreatitis for 15 weeks now with an Lipase at 2000 and Amylase at 420 range. He recently had a CCK disada to check his gal bladder and it was working but slowly. Now they will be doing an ERCP in about 4 weeks.  Has anyone had an ERCP done while they had active pancreatitis?  If so did your pain increase and your pancreatic enyzme levels rise?  He is on a Dilaudid PCA pain pump 24 hours a day and he is on G tube suction but he is still throwing up and still in alot of pain and he is now getting chronic headaches.  Any suggests would be helpful. He is TPN dependent so we know he has a fatty liver, also his spleen is enlarged and he cysts on his kidneys which also can cause him pain.  We hate to see him in such discomfort.  Thanks for any input.

[LK]

I am sorry to hear about your child's health problems. My thoughts are with you.
I have been doing alot of research and checking into ERCP's myself. I feel that I need to tell you that my investigation indicates that some people do get pancreatitis as a result of the ERCP. That depends on the physician's experience of doing the ERCP. The real good ones appear to have  a 15-20 % chance of causing pancreatitis during the ERCP. I would first ask the physician what his rate is ( don't let them give you the  run around ). I was also told by my doctor that he does not like doing ERCP's unless it is an absolute emergency until the pancreatitis has setteled down. I do not know who your physician is or how experenced he is but it concerns me enough to mention all of the above to you.  I hope you get the answers that you are looking for.  my heart goes out to you and your family.
LK