Etiology and Comorbidity Diagnoses Effect on Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

Introduction Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is now the first-line approach to treating choledocholithiasis. As a minimally invasive procedure, it is considered relatively safe but still entails a higher risk than other routine endoscopic procedures. This study aims to look at possible patient etiologies and comorbidities that may affect patient outcomes. Methods This study used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) from the years 2012 - 2015 to collect anonymous patient data through the use of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes. Specific codes were used to determine the top five etiologies (or presenting diagnosis) for patients who had this surgery and to separate outpatients with specific comorbidity diagnoses. The IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (IBM SPSS Statistics, Armonk, NY) was then used to compare patients with these diagnoses or etiologies to those without to measure differences in patient outcomes, such as mortality, length of stay, and total charges. Results Patients who had an etiological diagnosis of acute kidney failure had worse outcomes than patients who were admitted for ERCP without that etiological diagnosis. There were also specific comorbidity diagnoses that were noted to have worse patient outcomes, including congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus with complications, a coagulopathy disorder, anemia, or chronic liver disease. Additionally, patients who had both acute kidney disease and chronic liver disease had the worst outcomes. Conclusions This study highlights the need to understand all patient risk factors before having them undergo ERCP, especially in the setting of scheduled surgery. Working to control these factors before surgery can increase the possibility of avoiding negative outcomes like mortality, increased patient costs, and increased length of stay.