PubMed2006
Until recently, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has been considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of and therapy in patients with suspected choledocholithiasis. However, the non-negligible complication rate of diagnostic and therapeutic ERCP has led investigators to identify different noninvasive diagnostic modalities. Endoscopic ultrasonography has been proved to be of great sensitivity (up to 97%) in the diagnosis of even tiny stones that can be easily masked by contrast medium during ERCP, without any procedure-related complications and with a negative predictive value reaching 100%, meaning that it can accurately and safely identify patients with choledocholithiasis, thereby avoiding inappropriate instrumental exploration of the common bile duct.