Early results of conservative and surgical approach in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) perforations single center experience

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) +/- endoscopic sphincterotomy, and after perforation (ERCP-P), which is a common method used for the diagnosis in the past and treatment today in hepatopancreatobiliary cases, is a rare complication with high mortality. While surgery has been at the forefront in perforations after ERCP in previous years, conservative treatment is widely accepted today, except for some special conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of ERCP-P in a hepatobiliary center, the outcome of the treatment modalities applied, and the risk factors for mortality due to perforations.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients hospitalized in our clinic with the diagnosis of ERCP-P were retrospectively analyzed. Age, gender, ERCP indication, method of treatment applied, time between ERCP-P diagnosis and treatment, injury class, length of stay (LOS) and early results of the patients were examined.RESULTS: 45 patients were hospitalized in our clinic upon the development of ERCP-P between the years of 2006 and 2022. 37 of these patients underwent conservative and 8 patients underwent surgical treatment. When the perforation types were examined, Stapfer Type 1 was found in 4 patients, Type II in 6 patients, Type III in 3 patients and Type IV ERCP-P in 32 patients (71.1%). LOS was longer in the surgical group than in the conservative treatment group (p=0.040). Mortality was observed in 15.56% of patients. 57.1% of these patients were in the surgical group. In the multivariate analysis, the time between diagnosis and treatment of ERCP-P, which is the only factor affecting mortality, was found. The risk of death was found to be 30.61 times higher in patients with a time elapsed between ERCP-P diagnosis and treatment exceeding 24 hours compared to patients with a time elapsed <= 24 hours (p=0.030).DISCUSSION: In our study, it was observed that the prognosis of the patients in the surgical group was poor and the length of stay was significantly longer. At the same time, the only effective factor on mortality is the time between ERCPP diagnosis and treatment.