A surgical operation to make an incision into a sphincter.
Surgical cutting of a sphincter muscle, typically the one that is located at the junction of the intestine with the bile and pancreatic ducts. Endoscopic sphincterotomy (also known as endoscopic retrograde sphincterotomy, or ERS) is a useful treatment for certain abnormalities of the bile ducts, pancreas, and gallbladder. ERS developed as an extension of the diagnostic procedure ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). ERCP combines the use of X rays and endoscopy to examine the stomach, duodenum, bile ducts, and pancreas. In endoscopy, a slim, flexible, lighted tube is used to view, photograph, videotape, and take a sample of tissue for study. ERS permits the treatment of problems diagnosed through ERCP. Many times, the term ERCP is also used to refer to the treatments performed in ERS.
The cutting of a sphincter muscle; done, for example, in eye surgery to enlarge the pupil.
A surgical process that entails the incision of a sphincter muscle responsible for closing a bodily aperture or narrowing the passage between bodily pathways.