Fatty Food Ultrasound to test bile ducts - has anyone had this? - Digestive Disorders Message Board

jj9500 · 04-25-2008, 12:08 PM

My GI wants to do this ultrasound to determine if Sphincter of Oddi is operating quite the way it should to test for Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction. Has anyone ever had this ultrasound done? The way he described it is that you eat a fatty meal, then they give you something to drink that makes your liver do its thing. From there they can tell by ultrasound if your bile duct is working properly to deliver the bile from the liver to the intestines (my gallbladder is gone). If not.. and the duct enlarges, this could indicated Sphincter of Oddi Dysfynction and the next step would be to schedule a ERCP to cut the Sphincter. If I do have SOD (Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction) and have the ERCP done to cut the Sphincter I heard it can cause pancreatitis. Does all of this sound familiar to anyone? Has anyone gone through this with success? Thanks.

Linda_in_NJ · 04-25-2008, 12:49 PM

Actually it all depends on your doctor and his experience. I've had problems with my bile ducts and had 2 ERCP's. 1st one I had no problem. The 2nd time I had one was to open my duct to my pancreas so it did indeed cause pancreatits. My doctor told me that the pancreas is a very sensitive organ and even if it's touched slightly, it will cause pancreatitis. Good Luck to you.