ESWL Versus SOPIL for Treatment of Pancreatic Duct Stones

Pancreatic duct stones can cause obstruction of the main pancreatic duct leading to abdominal pain, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and recurrent acute pancreatitis. By removing pancreatic duct stones, the obstruction can be relieved, and this can improve symptoms. Small stones can be removed with standard endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and stone removal, but larger stones may require lithotripsy to break up the stone before removal. The two current methods of lithotripsy include extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and single operator pancreatoscopy with intracorporeal lithotripsy (SOPIL). ESWL is based on concentrating shock wave energy to the stone through an external device. SOPIL is a newer technique based on direct visualization of the stone during ERCP and targeting the stone with a shock wave catheter. There are currently no studies directly comparing ESWL to SOPIL for breaking apart stones in the pancreatic duct, so this study is designed to compare the two techniques. Objective #1: Obtain pilot data to determine the optimal method of clearing large MPDS Objective #2: Obtain pilot data to assess how effective large MPDS clearance is in improving long term patient centered outcomes Objective #3: Obtain pilot data to measure the cost effectiveness of large MPDS clearance