Table 1 Severe ERCP- and surgery-related (postoperative) complications [5,28,29,35,36,38,39,43,44].

ERCP

- Acute pancreatitis

Abdominal pain and a serum concentration of pancreatic enzymes (amylase or lipase) two or more times the upper limit of normal, that required more than one night of hospitalisation

- Cholangitis

Elevation in the temperature to more than 38°C, thought to have a biliary cause, without concomitant evidence of acute cholecystitis

- Acute cholecystitis

No suggestive clinical or radiographic signs of acute cholecystitis before the procedure and if emergency cholecystectomy is subsequently required

- Perforation

Retroperitoneal or bowel-wall perforation documented by any radiographic technique

- Haemorrhage

Clinical evidence of bleeding (melena or hematemesis) with an associated decrease of at least 2 g per decilitre in the haemoglobin concentration, or the need for a blood transfusion

- Stent Occlusion

Recurring obstructive jaundice with necessary stent replacement

SURGERY

- Pancreatojejunostomy leakage

Drain output of any measurable volume of fluid on or after postoperative day 3 with an amylase content greater than 3 times the serum amylase activity, graded according to clinical course (ISGPS grade A, B, C)

- Postpancreatectomy haemorrhage

Bleeding after the index operation requiring ≥ 4 units of packed cells and/or leading to relaparotomy/intervention

- Delayed gastric emptying

Gastric stasis requiring nasogastric intubation for 10 days or more, or the inability to tolerate a regular (solid) diet on or before the fourteenth postoperative day

- Biliary leakage

Bilirubin in abdominal drain or dehiscence found at laparotomy

- Sepsis

Presence of two or more of the following: fever or hypothermia, leucocytosis or leucopenia, tachycardia, and tachypnea or a supernormal minute ventilation

- Intra-abdominal abscess formation

Intra-abdominal fluid collection with positive cultures identified by ultrasonography or computed tomography, associated with persistent fever and elevations of white blood cells

- Wound infection

Requiring intervention with subsequent prolonged hospital stay, otherwise considered as minor complication

- Burst abdomen

- Any relaparotomy for other reasons

- Pneumonia