Feature Expanding your scope
A new cholangiopancreatoscopy registry may change the IR toolbox By Hope Racine
A
new research registry has been awarded one of the largest-ever SIR Foundation grants to
investigate the use and role of scopes in interventional radiology—an investigation that may open up an entirely new path of IR practice.
The Percutaneous Cholangio- pancreatoscopy (PCPS) registry, sponsored by SIR Foundation, will catalog the procedure data of several large academic centers. The PCPS registry is an observational, multicenter registry focused on the treatment of gallbladder and biliary tree lesions with the goal of removing indwelling drainage catheters quickly. Researchers will study tube-free survival rates as well as technical, procedural and clinical success, and complication rates.
“Scopes are generally not in the armamentarium of many interventional radiologists,” said lead researcher, Harjit Singh, MD, FSIR. “But due to recent advances in technology, there may be a role for scopes to become part of the standard IR toolkit and expand what we’re able to do, especially in the treatment of biliary and gallbladder diseases.”
Learn more about the registry and how to get involved at the QR code below
can now remove these drains and substantially improve quality of life.
“Biliary endoscopy is a significant leap forward in terms of not only the effectiveness of interventions we provide but also the diagnostic accuracy of the work we’re doing, specifically related to bile ducts in the postsurgical setting,” said Premal Trivedi, MD, who frequently does scope work and aims to join the registry.
Harjit Singh, MD, FSIR
According to researchers, cholangioscopes allow physicians to do procedures that aren’t possible with the standard IR tools like X-ray, needles and wires. Dr. Singh says that the gallbladder is a good example of the important role of scopes, because IRs are frequently called on to insert drains into the gallbladder for decompression. The gold standard of treatment is gallbladder removal, but some patients cannot undergo removal and so have drains inserted for life that must be changed regularly. Using scopes, IRs
Emerging technology According to researchers, the rise of disposable scopes has been crucial in opening opportunities for IRs to become more skilled and involved in endoscopic procedures.
“Endoscopy isn’t new,” said Dr. Trivedi. “It’s well established in other parts of medicine, and our GI colleagues have used scopes to diagnose and treat problems for decades. Biliary endoscopy has existed within IR for decades too—it just was a bit more niche, a bit more reserved to specific institutions, and that was largely related to the availability of the endoscope itself.”
Dr. Trivedi, who completed his fellowship with Dr. Singh at Johns Hopkins, was trained on reusable scopes from the
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