Motor disorders of the sphincter of Oddi (SO) may play a role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic recurrent pancreatitis. We have compared manometric records from the SO in 28 patients with idiopathic recurrent pancreatitis with those from 10 control subjects. Patients with idiopathic recurrent pancreatitis had presented with episodes of upper abdominal pain associated with abnormal serum levels of amylase on at least two occasions, in the absence of alcohol abuse and biliary disease. Retrograde pancreatography was either normal or showed only minor changes in pancreatic ducts. A triple lumen low compliance manometric system was used to obtain a 5 min recording of spontaneous SO motor activity. From this recording were determined the SO basal pressure, SO phasic contraction amplitude, SO wave frequency and direction of wave propagation. The SO response to intravenous cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-OP) 20 ng/kg was then recorded for at least 3 min. Twenty-five of the twenty-eight patients demonstrated one or more manometric abnormality when compared with data from the ten controls. The most frequent abnormality was an elevated SO basal pressure in 16 patients. In addition, excess of retrograde contractions in nine patients, high frequency of SO phasic contractions in nine patients, absence of phasic contractions in three patients, and paradoxical response to CCK-OP administration in two patients were recorded. This study has demonstrated a spectrum of sphincter of Oddi manometric disorders in patients with idiopathic recurrent pancreatitis and suggests that motility disorders of the sphincter of Oddi may be associated with episodes of pancreatitis.