A 59-year-old man had chronic calcific pancreatitis secondary to alcohol and smoking. He had acute flares of pain and elevation of serum pancreatic enzymes. A CT scan revealed features of chronic pancreatitis, including large pancreatic duct calculi in the dilated main duct. On previous ERCP examination 2 months prior, removal of a 15-mm impacted pancreatic stone near the genu was not attempted...

An instrument was developed to establish a tract through the muscle layer for percutaneous nephrostomy. The specially designed clamp holds a guide wire or rod and opens the muscle layer easily and safely. It is not as dangerous as a knife and is inexpensive compared with a disposable balloon dilator.

Three patients with caustic substanceinduced near-total antropyloric obstruction with recurrent vomiting were found to have a totally blocked antropyloric region with no flow of contrast distally (●" Fig.1). Patient characteristics, the treatment provided, and the outcome are summarized in●" Table1. After the patient had given informed consent, esophagogastroscopy was carried outwith the patien...

Accessible online at: www.karger.com/dsu Dear Editor With interest we read the article by Abir et al. [1] entitled ‘Surgical treatment of achalasia: Current status and controversies’ including a brilliant overview on pharmacologic, interventional and surgical treatment modalities. However, we would like to point out the following considerations on the topic: (1) In our institution we use the ‘S...

Endoscopic management of biliary stricture generally requires dilation using devices such as an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) balloon dilation catheter before stenting [1]. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) also requires fistula dilation before stenting. Recently, ultraslim balloon catheters [1] and diathermic dilators [2] have also been de...

OBJECTIVES To suggest a novel disposable percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) set that we named the 'Economical One-shot PCNL Set' (Ecoset), which consists of a single 30-F dilator, 30-F sheath, and 8-F polyurethane dilator, as use of a 'one-shot' dilatation technique during PCNL is becoming widespread. PATIENT AND METHODS The medical records of 42 patients with kidney stones who had undergone...

Endoscopic management of biliary stricture generally requires dilation using devices such as an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) balloon dilation catheter before stenting [1]. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) also requires fistula dilation before stenting. Recently, ultraslim balloon catheters [1] and diathermic dilators [2] have also been de...