Primary needle-knife fistulotomy for preventing post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis: Importance of the endoscopist’s expertise level

Table 1 Baseline characteristics between the experienced and less experienced endoscopists

	Total, n = 542, (%)	Experienced, n = 237, (%)	Less-experienced, n = 305, (%)	P value
Age (yr)	67.8 ± 13.4	66.6 ± 14.2	68.7 ± 12.6	0.070
Male (%)	307 (56.6)	129 (54.4)	178 (58.4)	0.361
Periampullary diverticulum	163 (30.1)	81 (34.2)	82 (26.9)	0.067
Ampulla configurations				0.224
Non-prominent	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Prominent	455 (83.9)	205 (86.5)	250 (82.0)
Bulging	65 (12.0)	25 (10.5)	0 (13.1)
Distorted	15 (2.8)	3 (1.3)	12 (3.9)
Hook-nose shape	7 (1.3)	4 (1.7)	3 (1.0)
Malignancy	200 (36.9)	91 (38.4)	109 (35.7)	0.525
Benign diseases	342 (63.1)	146 (61.6)	196 (64.3)