Gastric food retention at endoscopy is associated with severity of liver cirrhosis

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal symptoms are prevalent in patients with cirrhosis. Cirrhotic patients have a known predilection to delayed gastric emptying compared to those without cirrhosis. However, the contributing factors have not been fully elucidated. Retained gastric food on esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) has been used as a surrogate marker for delayed gastric emptying with reasonably high specificity. Therefore, we hypothesize that the frequency of retained gastric food contents at EGD will be higher in a cirrhotic population compared to a control population without liver disease. Additionally, we hypothesize that increased frequency of gastric food contents will be associated with increased severity of cirrhosis. AIM: To determine the relative frequency of delayed gastric emptying among cirrhotics as compared to non-cirrhotics and to identify associated factors. METHODS: We performed a retrospective case-control study of cirrhotic subjects who underwent EGD at an academic medical center between 2000 and 2015. Three hundred sixty-four patients with confirmed cirrhosis, who underwent a total of 1044 EGDs for the indication of esophageal variceal screening or surveillance, were identified. During the same period, 519 control patients without liver disease, who underwent a total of 881 EGDs for the indication of anemia, were identified. The presence of retained food on EGD was used as a surrogate for delayed gastric emptying. The relative frequency of delayed gastric emptying among cirrhotics was compared to non-cirrhotics. Characteristics of patients with and without retained food on EGD were compared using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify associated factors. RESULTS: Overall, 40 (4.5%) patients had evidence of retained food on EGD. Cirrhotics were more likely to have retained food on EGD than non-cirrhotics (9.1% vs 1.4%, P < 0.001). Characteristics associated with retained food on univariable analysis included age less than 60 years (12.6% vs 5.2%, P = 0.015), opioid use (P = 0.004), Child-Pugh class C (24.1% Child-Pugh class C vs 6.4% Child-Pugh class A, P = 0.007), and lower platelet count (P = 0.027). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, in addition to the presence of cirrhosis (adjusted OR = 5.83; 95%CI: 2.32-14.7, P < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (types 1 and 2 combined) (OR = 2.34; 95%CI: 1.08-5.06, P = 0.031), opioid use (OR = 3.08; 95%CI: 1.29-7.34, P = 0.011), and Child-Pugh class C (OR = 4.29; 95%CI: 1.43-12.9, P = 0.01) were also associated with a higher likelihood of food retention on EGD. CONCLUSION: Cirrhotics have a higher frequency of retained food at EGD than non-cirrhotics. Decompensated cirrhosis, defined by Child-Pugh class C, is associated with a higher likelihood of delayed gastric emptying.