see also: [[Ascending cholangitis]]
ERCP = Endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography
| modality | advantage | disadvantage |
| -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ERCP | - diagnostic and therapeutic | - can cause pancreatitis |
| MRCP | - sensitive to delineate obstruction and alternative diagnoses missed on transabdominal ultrasound<br>- has a high sensitivity for detecting biliary calculi and malignant biliary obstruction | - does not treat underlying issue<br>- prolonged procedure<br>- worse environment to resuscitate unwell patient |