1268 An Audit of the Time to Surgery Following Diagnosis of Gallstone Pancreatitis

Abstract

Abstract Aim To assess the compliance of our trust with the British Gastroenterology guidelines (BSG) on the management of gallstone pancreatitis which recommends that patients should undergo definitive treatment of laparoscopic cholecystectomy during the index admission or within 2 weeks of discharge to prevent readmission with biliary complications. Method This was a retrospective study of patients admitted with gallstone pancreatitis over a 3-month period between January 2021 and March 2021. We collected data from electronic medical records (EPR) and collated them on Microsoft Excel. Data was gathered on patient demographics, diagnosis at presentation, number of days to surgery, rate of readmission and the reasons for this. Results A total of 21 patients were admitted with gallstone pancreatitis. The median age was 50 years and 52% of them were male. 14 (67%) patients had laparoscopic cholecystectomy and only 9 (64%) of these had it within the 2-week window. 7 (33%) patients did not have surgery. Of these, 4 of them were not eligible, 1 went private and 2 patients are still awaiting surgery. The median wait for surgery was 3 days. The average time to surgery was 64 days. There were 6 readmissions whilst waiting for surgery with pain being the most common reason. Conclusions 64% of patients had definitive treatment of laparoscopic cholecystectomy within the 2-week time frame demonstrating poor compliance with the BSG guidelines. We have introduced a semi-emergency theatre list once a week to accommodate definitive management of patients with gallstone pancreatitis and will re-audit the data to evaluate for improvement.