Original ArticleComplications of ERCP: a prospective study
Section snippets
Patients and methods
An uncontrolled prospective study was conducted of complications occurring within 30 days of ERCP for all patients undergoing the procedure at a single university-affiliated hospital. The enrollment period was 2 years. All patients who underwent ERCP were eligible for inclusion; the only exclusion criterion was inability to perform ERCP because of an obstructed duodenum. During the time period of the study, approval of the protocol by the local ethics committee was not required.
A registration
Results
A total of 1177 consecutive patients scheduled for ERCP during a 2-year period (March 1998 to March 2000) entered the study (Table 1). No patient was categorized as ASA physical status IV. Of the ERCP procedures, 56.2% were therapeutic, 38.8% were diagnostic, and 5% were unsuccessful. When selective cannulation of the PD alone was intended, this was achieved in 72% of cases; when BD cannulation alone was the goal, it was achieved in 63% of cases; intended opacification of both ducts was
Discussion
The present study confirms that ERCP has a high complication rate, as noted on other studies,1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., 11. and underlines the need to minimize the number of diagnostic ERCP procedures. Although particular attention was given to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in relation to ERCP, the present study did not confirm that more than 50% of the morbidity and mortality is cardiovascular in origin, as has been noted in other studies.10., 20., 21.
The present study evaluated
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the nursing staff of the endoscopy unit of Hvidovre University Hospital for meticulous implementation of the registration form and to Michael Achiam, MD, for the follow-up of patients during a vacation period. Special thanks also to Drs. Linda Bardram and Ole Olsen (Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Hvidovre University Hospital) for blinded expert evaluation of complications and their relation to ERCP. We thank Jacob Carstensen for help with the statistical analyses.
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