42 Safety of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography for Choledocholithiasis in Patients With Age ≥80: A Nationwide Analysis

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a necessary procedure for exploration and management of pancreaticobiliary ductal system disorders. Safety of ERCP in the elderly population with more underlying co-morbidities remains a concern. We aimed to study if ERCP, particularly for biliary calculus (BC)-related indications, is associated with higher complications including mortality in patients with age ≥80. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis using data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from the year 2016. We included all adult patients admitted with BC who underwent ERCP, and we further identified those with concurrent pancreatitis and/or cholangitis, using ICD-10-CM codes. Patients with missing information on age, gender or inpatient mortality were excluded. We analyzed patients by two groups: age <80 and ≥80 years. Chi-square analysis and t-tests were used to compare categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Predictors of ERCP-related complications, including inpatient mortality, were assessed by multivariable logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Total of 102,095 patients were included in the study who underwent ERCP for BC related etiology, out of which 20,530 (20.1%) were patients age ≥80 years. In the age ≥80 group, mean age was 85.4 years, and 56.5% patients were female. Unadjusted mean length of stay (6.3 vs. 5.3 days), hospitalization costs ($75,326 vs. $72,110) and inpatient mortality (2.2% vs. 0.8%) were significantly higher in patients with age ≥80. BC without pancreatitis or cholangitis was the most common indication for ERCP in both groups. Prevalence of complications related to ERCP were comparable between two groups except for cardiorespiratory complications and mortality (Table 1). On multivariate analysis, patients with age ≥80 had statistically no significant difference in complications in compared to patients with age <80 years (aOR: 0.96, 95% CI 0.92–1.01, P = 0.133). Among all patients, ERCP performed for biliary pancreatitis (BP) had 70% lower rate of complications while ERCP for cholangitis had 26% higher rate compared to ERCP for simple BC (Table 2). CONCLUSION: In the United States, about 1 in 5 ERCP for BC are performed in patients with age ≥80. Overall, BP is associated with significantly lower risk of complications. Among patients undergoing ERCP for BC-related indications, patients with age ≥80 do not carry a higher risk of ERCP-associated complications.