Do juxtapapillary diverticula of the duodenum interfere with cannulation at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography? A prospective study.

Previous observations indicate that juxtapapillary diverticula (JD) of the duodenum have made cannulation of the papilla of Vater difficult in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. This prospective study of 1,243 cases that underwent ERCP shows that 153 patients with JD had the same failure rate as the 1,090 patients without JD (8.49% vs. 8.99%). The incidence of JD increases with age, but the incidence of biliary calculi or cholangitis is not different between the JD group and the nondiverticulum group.