A practical cost-effective management strategy for gallstone pancreatitis

Intraoperative cholangiography: a stepping stone to streamlining the treatment of choledocholithiasis

BACKGROUND

An estimated 8-15% of patients undergoing cholecystectomy have concomitant common bile duct stones. In this 14-year study, we utilize data of patients at a high-volume tertiary care academic center and compare the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) and endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERCP).

METHODS

The charts of 1715 patients in the institutional NSQIP database who underwent cholecystectomy between October 1st, 2005 and September 30th, 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who underwent cholecystectomy in relation to a malignancy diagnosis or who underwent an ERCP in a different index hospitalization were excluded. Main outcomes included hospital length of stay (LOS), post-operative morbidity, and rate of readmissions.

RESULTS

Of the 1409 patients included in the final analysis, 185 patients underwent ERCP, while 95 patients underwent IOC. Use of IOC compared to preoperative ERCP resulted in a shorter LOS (2.6 vs. 5.3 days, p < 0.001), lower rate of readmission (1.1% vs. 6.5%, p = 0.040), and similar rates of post-operative complications. Mean operative time increased by only 15 min in the IOC compared to the ERCP group (129 vs.114 min, p = 0.047). Additional variables that increased LOS on multivariable logistic regression included age, ASA classification, post-operative complications, and increased number of preoperative tests.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that use of IOC during cholecystectomy results in shorter LOS and fewer readmissions compared to ERCP. Future studies comparing these two approaches should focus on patient randomization, a cost-effectiveness analysis, and identifying barriers to implementation of a one-stage approach in the management of suspected choledocholithiasis.

Routine intraoperative cholangiography is unnecessary in patients with mild gallstone pancreatitis and normalizing bilirubin levels

BACKGROUND

The benefit of intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) is controversial in patients with gallstone pancreatitis whose bilirubin levels are normalizing. IOC with subsequent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography may lengthen duration of surgery and length of stay, whereas failure to clear the common bile duct may result in recurrent pancreatitis.

METHODS

We performed a 6-year retrospective cohort analysis of consecutive adult patients with mild gallstone pancreatitis undergoing same-admission cholecystectomy at 2 university-affiliated medical centers. Institution A routinely performed IOC, whereas institution B did not. The primary outcome was readmission within 30 days for recurrent pancreatitis.

RESULTS

Of 520 patients evaluated, 246 (47%) were managed at institution A (routine IOC) and 274 (53%) were managed at institution B (restricted IOC). Patients at institution B had a shorter duration of surgery (1.0 vs 1.6 hours, P < .001), shorter length of stay (4 vs 5 days, P < .001), and fewer postoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatographies performed (1.8% vs 21%, P < .001), without a difference in readmissions (1.5% vs 0%, P = .12).

CONCLUSIONS

Routine IOC is not necessary in the setting of mild gallstone pancreatitis with normalizing bilirubin values.

Scoring System for the Management of Acute Gallstone Pancreatitis: Cost Analysis of a Prospective Study

Predicting the presence of a persistent common bile duct (CBD) stone is a difficult and expensive task. The aim of this study is to determine if a previously described protocol-based scoring system is a cost-effective strategy. The protocol includes all patients with gallstone pancreatitis and stratifies them based on laboratory values and imaging to high, medium, and low likelihood of persistent stones. The patient's stratification then dictates the next course of management. A decision analytic model was developed to compare the costs for patients who followed the protocol versus those that did not. Clinical data model inputs were obtained from a prospective study conducted at The Mount Sinai Medical Center to validate the protocol from Oct 2009 to May 2013. The study included all patients presenting with gallstone pancreatitis regardless of disease severity. Seventy-three patients followed the proposed protocol and 32 did not. The protocol group cost an average of $14,962/patient and the non-protocol group cost $17,138/patient for procedural costs. Mean length of stay for protocol and non-protocol patients was 5.6 and 7.7 days, respectively. The proposed protocol is a cost-effective way to determine the course for patients with gallstone pancreatitis, reducing total procedural costs over 12 %.

Gallstone pancreatitis: a review

Gallstone disease is the most common cause of acute pancreatitis in the Western world. In most cases, gallstone pancreatitis is a mild and self-limiting disease, and patients may proceed without complications to cholecystectomy to prevent future recurrence. Severe disease occurs in about 20% of cases and is associated with significant mortality; meticulous management is critical. A thorough understanding of the disease process, diagnosis, severity stratification, and principles of management is essential to the appropriate care of patients presenting with this disease. This article reviews these topics with a focus on surgical management, including appropriate timing and choice of interventions.