Evaluation of Safety and Outcomes of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography in 1337 Patients at a Single Center

OBJECTIVE: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the gold standard treatment for pancreaticobiliary diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and review the outcomes of our experience of ERCP over the past 4 years. METHOD: The clinical records of patients aged 18-104 years who underwent ERCP at our gastroenterology clinic between 2014 and 2018 were included in the study. Data were acquired from the hospital archive system. RESULTS: A total of 1337 patients with a mean age of 60.58±17.96 years. including 775 female, and 562 male cases were included in the study. The patients were in the age groups of 18-30 (n=39), 30-65 (n=694), 65-75 (n=274), 75-85 (n=258), and > 85 (n=72) years. Among them, 28.27% were rated as ASA III-IV on the American Society of Anesthesiologists scale. Although biliary cannulation with standard sphincterotomy was successful in 1303 (97.45%), patients it could not be performed in 34 (2.55%). patients Precut papillotomy was performed in 27 (79.41%) of 34 patients. Furthermore, no complication was observed in 1207 patients (90.27%), whereas 96 patients (7.18%) had minor and major procedure-related and anesthesia-related complications. The 30-day mortality rate was 1.64% (n=22). CONCLUSION: We concluded that ERCP, which is currently performed entirely for therapeutic purposes, is safe and lifesaving, with high clinical success rates.