Complications of Endoscopic Biliary Sphincterotomy

To the Editor: In their study of complications of endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy (Sept. 26 issue), 1 Freeman et al. found that the rates of complications were similar in patients with bile-duct stones whether sphincterotomy was performed after or in the absence of cholecystectomy. The frequency of complications in patients with intact gallbladders with or without gallstones was not investigated. In our study of patients treated at 17 endoscopy centers in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, we found that the presence of gallstones was of value in predicting the development of cholecystitis after endoscopic sphincterotomy. We included all patients who . . .