초록 열기/닫기 버튼

A 68-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with obstructive jaundice. Abdominal CT scan demonstrated a mass at thehead of the pancreas. The patient was diagnosed as having obstructive jaundice caused by pancreatic cancer. We tried to relieve thebile duct obstruction by ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). After several cannulation attempts, we thoughtthat we had achieved deep cannulation of the bile duct and tried to place a biliary plastic stent. During ERCP, however, we noticedmassive air in the portal venous system, indicating possible cannulation of the portal vein. The procedure was terminated immediatelyand abdominal computed tomography revealed air in the portal venous system. Fortunately, there were no subsequentcomplications. The air in the portal vein had disappeared, ascertained by CT scan taken 5 days later. The patient underwent surgicalresection for pancreatic cancer. Isolated portal vein cannulation per se does not usually result in mortality or serious morbidity.