Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) before endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with biliary and pancreatic diseases, and evaluate its necessity.Methods Clinical data of patients with ERCP from February 2017 to April 2020 were collected. EUS was performed within 2 h before ERCP and then ERCP was performed in the case group (EUS + ERCP group, n = 166), while ERCP was performed in the control group (ERCP group, n = 166). According to the difficulty level of ERCP operation, it is further divided into two subgroups: simple operation group and complex operation group. The intubation success rate of ERCP, operation time, incidence of postoperative complications and radiation exposure were compared and analyzed.Results There was no significant difference in age, sex, ERCP indication, hospitalization days, intubation success rate of ERCP and the incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups. The operation time in EUS + ERCP group was shorter than that in ERCP group [(36.3 ± 22.5) min vs (43.8 ± 24.1) min, P < 0.05]. There was significant difference in the operation time of the simple operation group (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the operation time of the complex operation group (P > 0.05). The time of X-ray fluoroscopy in EUS + ERCP group was shorter than that in ERCP group [ (39.7 ± 27.6) s vs (49.9 ± 33.5) s, P < 0.05]. According to the subgroup analysis, the fluoroscopy time of the simple operation group and the complex operation group in the EUS + ERCP group was shorter than that in the ERCP group (P < 0.05). The total radiation dose of EUS + ERCP group was (10.3 ± 7.3) mGy, and that of ERCP group was (13.9 ± 10.3) mGy, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in radiation dose between simple operation group and complex operation group (P < 0.05).Conclusion EUS before ERCP will not change the incidence of complications after ERCP, but it can reduce the operation time of ERCP, especially ERCP with low difficulty level. And the use of EUS reduces radiation exposure during ERCP.