Diagnostic Paracentesis Within 1 Day Is Associated With Reduced Mortality and Length of Hospital Stay in Patients with Cirrhosis and Ascites

The association of hospitalist medical procedure service with operational efficiency at an academic medical center

We examined the impact of a hospital medicine medical procedure service (MPS) on hospital length of stay (LOS), postprocedure LOS, and completion of procedures on weekends. We included 4952 patients admitted to our large academic hospital between July 1, 2021 and July 31, 2023 who underwent thoracentesis, paracentesis, or lumbar puncture (LP). MPS performed 30% (1499) of these procedures. After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, Charlson comorbidity score, and procedure type, procedure performance by MPS was associated with a shorter total hospital LOS (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87-0.99) and postprocedure LOS (IRR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.76-0.88). Also, MPS-performed procedures were twice as likely to occur on weekends compared to non-MPS-performed procedures (odds ratio [OR]: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.75-2.41). These findings support the beneficial impact of MPS on operational efficiency, an important outcome for both patients and hospitals.

A Machine Learning Algorithm Avoids Unnecessary Paracentesis for Exclusion of SBP in Cirrhosis in Resource-limited Settings

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Despite the poor prognosis associated with missed or delayed spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) diagnosis, <15% get timely paracentesis, which persists despite guidelines/education in the United States. Measures to exclude SBP non-invasively where timely paracentesis cannot be performed could streamline this burden.

METHODS

Using Veterans Health Administration Corporate Data Warehouse (VHA-CDW) we included patients with cirrhosis between 2009 and 2019 who underwent timely paracentesis and collected relevant clinical information (demographics, cirrhosis severity, medications, vitals, and comorbidities). XGBoost-models were trained on 75% of the primary cohort, with 25% reserved for testing. The final model was further validated in 2 cohorts: Validation cohort #1: In VHA-CDW, those without prior SBP who received 2nd early paracentesis, and Validation cohort #2: Prospective data from 276 non-electively admitted University hospital patients.

RESULTS

Negative predictive values (NPVs) at 5%,10%, and 15% probability cutoffs were examined. Primary cohort: n = 9643 (mean age, 63.1 ± 8.7 years; 97.2% men; SBP, 15.0%) received first early paracentesis. Testing-set NPVs for SBP were 96.5%, 93.0%, and 91.6% at the 5%, 10%, and 15% probability thresholds, respectively. In Validation cohort #1: n = 2844 (mean age, 63.14 ± 8.37 years; 97.1% male; SBP, 9.7%) with NPVs were 98.8%, 95.3%, and 94.5%. In Validation cohort #2: n = 276 (mean age, 56.08 ± 9.09; 59.6% male; SBP, 7.6%) with NPVs were 100%, 98.9%, and 98.0% The final machine learning model showed the greatest net benefit on decision-curve analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

A machine learning model generated using routinely collected variables excluded SBP with high NPV. Applying this model could ease the need to provide paracentesis in resource-limited settings by excluding those unlikely to have SBP.

Early Diagnostic Paracentesis Improves Outcomes of Hospitalized Patients With Cirrhosis and Ascites: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Diagnostic paracentesis is recommended for patients with cirrhosis admitted to the hospital, but adherence is suboptimal with unclear impact on clinical outcomes. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the outcomes of early vs delayed diagnostic paracentesis among hospitalized patients with cirrhosis and ascites.

METHODS

We searched multiple databases for studies comparing early vs delayed diagnostic paracentesis among hospitalized patients with cirrhosis and ascites. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and mean difference with confidence intervals (CIs) for proportional and continuous variables were calculated using the random-effects model. Early diagnostic paracentesis was defined as receiving diagnostic paracentesis within 12-24 hours of admission. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were length of hospital stay, acute kidney injury, and 30-day readmission.

RESULTS

Seven studies (n = 78,744) (n = 45,533 early vs n = 33,211 delayed diagnostic paracentesis) were included. Early diagnostic paracentesis was associated with lower in-hospital mortality (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.46-0.82, P = 0.001), length of hospital stay (mean difference -4.85 days; 95% CI -6.45 to -3.20; P < 0.001), and acute kidney injury (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.42-0.92, P = 0.02) compared with delayed diagnostic paracentesis, with similar 30-day readmission (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.52-2.39, P = 0.79). Subgroup analysis revealed consistent results for in-hospital mortality whether early diagnostic paracentesis performed within 12 hours (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.32-0.79, P = 0.003, I2 = 0%) or within 24 hours of admission (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.45-0.98, P = 0.04, I2 = 82%). Notably, the mortality OR was numerically lower when diagnostic paracentesis was performed within 12 hours, and the results were precise and homogenous ( I2 = 0%).

DISCUSSION

Findings from this meta-analysis suggest that early diagnostic paracentesis is associated with better patient outcomes. Early diagnostic paracentesis within 12 hours of admission may be associated with the greatest mortality benefit. Data from large-scale randomized trials are needed to validate our findings, especially if there is a greater mortality benefit for early diagnostic paracentesis within 12 hours.