Endoscopic balloon tamponade for conservative management of severe hemorrhage following endoscopic sphincterotomy.

We report on two patients in whom balloon tamponade was applied for management of severe hemorrhage following endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST). In both patients after EST severe hemorrhage from the papillary orifice was treated by immediate introduction of a special balloon catheter (balloon catheter, model Mainz, Vygon, Aachen). In both patients after 10 minutes no further bleeding was visualized. We conclude that this simple procedure should be taken into account for the conservative treatment of severe hemorrhage following EST.