Intravenous antibiotics add cost and complexity.
The rate of use of antibiotics did not change, and there was no increase in the infection rate. As a third phase of this study, we reduced the indications to include only those patients with objective obstruction on prior imaging studies. These changes have resulted in a substantial saving in revenue. We postulated that the increased risk might be due to persisting spasm in the pancreatic sphincter after biliary sphincterotomy had been performed. Eighty consecutive patients meeting the inclusion criteria were randomized to receive the stent or no stent, for approximately 24 hours after the procedure.