Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is one of the most difficult techniques in the field of GI endoscopy. It is necessary for trainees to spend enough time and perform enough cases to grasp this technique. The methods of ERCP training include hands-on teaching, training on different kinds of simulators, training on ex-vivo or live anesthetized porcine stomach models, etc. Supervised hands-on teaching is the standard method for ERCP training. Selective cannulation is considered the most difficult and challenging part of learning ERCP. There is not an optimal time for trainees to attempt cannulation during hands-on ERCP training. The time used for attempting cannulation by trainees was 5min or 10min in several centers. In ERCP center of the investigators hospital, 15min was used for trainees to attempt cannulation for about one year. The incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis, the major complication related to cannulation, was 4.0%, which was comparable with previous studies. The investigators hypothesized that a longer time (15min) for trainees to attempt cannulation would increase success rate of selective cannulation and help to improve skills more quickly. At the meantime, with actively verbal or hands-on assistance from the instructor during performance of trainees, the risk of complications would not increased with a longer time to attempt cannulation. Here a prospective, endoscopists-blinded, randomized, controlled study was designed to evaluate the effects of different periods of time for trainees to attempt selective cannulation on success rate of cannulation, self-satisfaction of performance and post-ERCP pancreatitis.
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Success rate of selective cannulation by trainee
Timeframe: up to one year