Functional Disorders of the Biliary Tract and Pancreas
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II48 Gut 1999;45(Suppl II):II48–II54 Functional disorders of the biliary tract and pancreas E Corazziari, E A ShaVer, W J Hogan, S Sherman, J Toouli Abstract Normal gall bladder and sphincter of The term “dysfunction” defines the motor Oddi function disorders of the gall bladder and the The gall bladder and the sphincter of Oddi sphincter of Oddi (SO) without note of the (SO) act as an integrated unit to regulate bile potential etiologic factors for the diYculty flow from the liver through the biliary tract into to diVerentiate purely functional altera- the duodenum.1 The SO similarly controls pancreatic exocrine output. During fasting, Chair, Committee on tions from subtle structural changes. Dys- Functional Biliary and function of the gall bladder and/or SO hepatic bile enters the gall bladder for storage. Pancreatic Disorders, produces similar patterns of biliopancre- The gall bladder accommodates this increase Multinational Working atic pain and SO dysfunction may occur in in volume through receptive relaxation without Teams to Develop the presence of the gall bladder. The any significant rise in pressure and by concen- Diagnostic Criteria for symptom-based diagnostic criteria of gall trating bile to keep its volume small. The gall Functional bladder evacuates bile by smooth muscle Gastrointestinal bladder and SO dysfunction are episodes Disorders (Rome II), of severe steady pain located in the epigas- contraction, coordinated with reduced tone in Cattedra di trium and right upper abdominal quad- the SO. During fasting, about 25% of the emp- Gastroenterologia I, rant which last at least 30 minutes. Gall tying of gall bladder contents occurs periodi- Clinica Medica II, cally every 100–120 minutes, mediated by Università “La bladder and SO dysfunctions can cause significant clinical symptoms but do not motilin, which acts via vagal cholinergic nerves Sapienza,” and is synchronized with the migratory motor Rome, Italy explain many instances of biliopancreatic 2 E Corazziari type of pain. The syndrome of functional complex of the intestine. Eating initiates over abdominal pain should be diVerentiated 75% of gall bladder emptying through neural Co-Chair, Committee from gall bladder and SO dysfunction. In (cephalic and local gastroduodenal reflexes) on Functional Biliary and hormonal (predominantly cholecystokinin and Pancreatic the diagnostic workup, invasive investiga- tions should be performed only in the (CCK) acting via cholinergic nerves) Disorders, influences.3 Non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic Multinational Working presence of compelling clinical evidence inhibitory nerves produce SO relaxation Teams to Develop and after non-invasive testing has yielded through the release of vasoactive intestinal Diagnostic Criteria for negative findings. Gall bladder dysfunction Functional peptide (VIP) and nitric oxide, acting as post- is suspected when laboratory, ultrasono- Gastrointestinal ganglionic neurotransmitters.4 The neural sup- graphic, and microscopic bile examination Disorders (Rome II), ply to the biliary tract includes vagal eVerent have excluded the presence of gallstones Department of nerves releasing acetylcholine, sympathetic fib- Medicine, and other structural abnormalities. The ers releasing norepinepherine, and sensory University of Calgary, finding of decreased gall bladder emptying nerves containing substance P. Sensory fibers Calgary, Alberta, at cholecystokinin-cholescintigraphy is the Canada influence the neural response, acting via the only objective characteristic of gall blad- E A ShaVer vagus through central reflexes.5 Derangements der dysfunction. Symptomatic manifesta- of any of these components may lead to inter- Division of tion of SO dysfunction may be mittent upper abdominal pain, transient eleva- Gastroenterology and accompanied by features of biliary ob- tions of liver or pancreatic enzymes, common Hepatology, struction (biliary-type SO dysfunction) or Milwaukee, WI, USA bile duct dilatation, or episodes of pancreatitis. W J Hogan significant elevation of pancreatic en- zymes and pancreatitis (pancreatic-type Definition of gall bladder and sphincter SO dysfunction). Biliary-type SO dysfunc- Division of of Oddi dysfunction Gastroenterology and tion occurs more frequently in post- Motor dysfunction of the gall bladder and SO Hepatology, cholecystectomy patients who are Indiana University has long been suspected as a major feature of categorized into three types. Types I and II, several clinical entities that manifest with a School of Medicine, but not type III, have biochemical and Indianapolis, IN, USA similar pattern of upper abdominal pain (table S Sherman cholangiographic features of biliary ob- 1). Unlike other functional gastrointestinal dis- struction. Pancreatic-type SO dysfunction orders, however, abnormalities are beginning Gastrointestinal is less well classified into types. When non- Surgical Unit, to be identified by new technologies, although invasive investigations and endoscopic ret- in many instances a cause-and-eVect relation- Flinders Medical rograde cholangiopanreatography show Centre, ship has not been substantiated. Clinical SA, Australia no structural abnormality, manometry of symptoms may not coincide temporally with J Toouli both biliary and pancreatic sphincter may the demonstrated abnormality. Further, im- be considered. paired gall bladder emptying occurs in many Correspondence to: Eldon (Gut 1999;45(Suppl II):II48–II54) 6 ShaVer, MD, Professor and patients with cholesterol gallstones, yet most Head, Department of Keywords: biliary tract disease; sphincter of Oddi Medicine, Foothills Medical Centre, 1403 29th Street dysfunction; gallstone disease; pancreatitis; endoscopic Abbreviations used in this paper: SO, sphincter of NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N retrograde cholangiopancreatography; cholescintigraphy; Oddi; CCK, cholecystokinin; VIP, vasoactive intestinal 2T9, Canada. Email: endoscopic ultrasonography; cholecystokinin; magnetic peptide; ERCP, endoscopic retrograde [email protected] resonance cholangiopancreatography; Rome II cholangiopancreatography. Functional disorders of the biliary tract and pancreas II49 Table 1 Functional gastrointestinal disorders the gall bladder and SO” without attempting to attribute its cause(s) or to identify often subtle A. Esophageal disorders morphological changes. This classification A1. Globus A2. Rumination syndrome consists of: A3. Functional chest pain of presumed esophageal origin (1) gall bladder dysfunction, and A4. Functional heartburn A5. Functional dysphagia (2) SO dysfunction, which may be subdivided A6. Unspecified functional esophageal disorder into: (a) biliary-type and (b) pancreatic- B. Gastroduodenal disorders type. B1. Functional dyspepsia B1a. Ulcer-like dyspepsia The following clinical observations should B1b. Dysmotility-like dyspepsia be considered with regard to gall bladder and B1c. Unspecified (non-specific) dyspepsia SO dysfunction: B2. Aerophagia B3. Functional vomiting + gall bladder and SO dysfunction manifest C. Bowel disorders symptomatically with the same type of pain; C1. Irritable bowel syndrome although the diagnosis of SO dysfunction is C2. Functional abdominal bloating + C3. Functional constipation usually made following cholecystectomy, SO C4. Functional diarrhea dysfunction can manifest clinically in pa- C5. Unspecified functional bowel disorder tients with an intact biliary tract; D. Functional abdominal pain D1. Functional abdominal pain syndrome + psychosocial aspects appear to be variably D2. Unspecified functional abdominal pain interrelated with gall bladder and SO E. Biliary disorders E1. Gall bladder dysfunction dysfunction; E2. Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction + the syndrome of chronic functional abdomi- F. Anorectal disorders nal pain may manifest with clinical charac- F1. Functional fecal incontinence F2. Functional anorectal pain teristics similar to biliopancreatic type of F2a. Levator ani syndrome pain. F2b. Proctalgia fugax F3. Pelvic floor dyssynergia G. Functional pediatric disorders E1. Gall bladder dysfunction G1. Vomiting G1a. Infant regurgitation The central symptom of gall bladder dysfunc- G1b. Infant rumination syndrome tion is biliary-type pain. Currently, the only G1c. Cyclic vomiting syndrome objective characteristic is decreased gall blad- G2. Abdominal pain G2a. Functional dyspepsia der emptying. Available techniques have not G2b. Irritable bowel syndrome clarified its basis (perhaps there is more than G2c. Functional abdominal pain one cause) and cannot exclude other entities G2d. Abdominal migraine G2e. Aerophagia such as impaired filling or an overly sensitive G3. Functional diarrhea gall bladder. G4. Disorders of defecation G4a. Infant dyschezia G4b. Functional constipation EPIDEMIOLOGY G4c. Functional fecal retention Gallstones are the most common aZiction of G4d. Non-retentive fecal soiling the gall bladder, but only 10–20% of patients ever develop symptoms.10 Further, there is no association with dyspepsia.11 The frequency of (over 80%) never develop symptoms. Struc- biliary pain in those without gallstones may be tural changes, particularly those indicative of as high as 7.6% of men12 and 20.7% of chronic inflammation, may not necessarily cor- women,13 or as low as 2.4% overall, as reported relate with impaired emptying in patients with in an ultrasonographic survey.14 biliary dyskinesia.7 The presumed mechanism for biliary pain is obstruction leading to disten- sion and inflammation. This might result from DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA incoordination between the gall bladder and Episodes