BACKGROUND It has not been established whether endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) prevents subsequent cholangitis in patients with cholangitis and with a common bile duct (CBD) stone not documented by ERCP.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the role of ES on the recurrence of cholangitis in patients with a high probability of having a CBD stone, not demonstrated by ERCP.

DESIGN AND PATIENTS A total of 117 patients who were diagnosed as having cholangitis and a high probability of a CBD stone, not detected by ERCP, were retrospectively reviewed. Cumulative recurrence rates of cholangitis were compared for treatments with and without ES.

SETTING Multicenter, retrospective study.

INTERVENTIONS ES.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS Cumulative recurrence of cholangitis after ERCP.

RESULTS Eighty-three patients underwent ES (ES group) and 34 patients did not (non-ES group). No statistically significant differences between the 2 groups were evident in terms of demographic factors or laboratory findings. The mean (standard deviation) follow-up was 22.1 +/- 17.2 months (range 3-66 months) in the ES group and 23.3 +/- 14.9 months (range 6-84 months) in the non-ES group (P = .72). The cumulative rates of cholangitis were 6.3% (4.8% vs 9.9%) at 1 year, 15.6% (9.2% vs 29.3%) at 3 years, and 19.5% (9.2% vs 52.9%) at 5 years for ES vs non-ES groups, respectively (P = .04). By multivariate analysis, ES reduced cholangitis recurrence, with a hazard ratio of 0.305 (95% CI 0.095-0.975, P = .045).

LIMITATIONS Retrospective study.

CONCLUSIONS ES reduced further episodes of cholangitis in patients with an episode of cholangitis and a high probability of choledocholithiasis, despite the lack of a CBD stone seen on ERCP.