Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2017; 23(9): 1627-1636
Published online Mar 7, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i9.1627
Efficacy and safety of limited endoscopic sphincterotomy before self-expandable metal stent insertion for malignant biliary obstruction
Hyeong Seok Nam, Dae Hwan Kang, Hyung Wook Kim, Cheol Woong Choi, Su Bum Park, Su Jin Kim, Dae Gon Ryu
Hyeong Seok Nam, Dae Hwan Kang, Hyung Wook Kim, Cheol Woong Choi, Su Bum Park, Su Jin Kim, Dae Gon Ryu, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do 50612, South Korea
Author contributions: Kang DH designed research; Kim HW, Choi CW, Park SB, Kim SJ and Ryu DG contributed to the design, organization, and draft of the manuscript; Nam HS wrote the paper; all the authors reviewed the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dae Hwan Kang, MD, PhD, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Geumo-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do 50612, South Korea. sulsulpul@naver.com
Telephone: +82-55-3601535 Fax: +82-55-3601536
Received: November 1, 2016
Peer-review started: November 3, 2016
First decision: December 19, 2016
Revised: February 8, 2017
Accepted: February 8, 2017
Article in press: February 8, 2017
Published online: March 7, 2017
Abstract
AIM

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of limited endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) before placement of self-expandable metal stent (SEMS).

METHODS

This was a retrospective analysis of 244 consecutive patients with unresectable malignant biliary obstruction, who underwent placement of SEMSs following limited ES from December 2008 to February 2015. The diagnosis of malignant biliary obstruction and assessment of patient eligibility for the study was established by a combination of clinical findings, laboratory investigations, imaging and pathological results. All patients were monitored in the hospital for at least 24 h following endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography (ERCP). The incidence of immediate or early post-ERCP complications such as post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) and bleeding related to limited ES were considered as primary outcomes. Also, characteristics and complications according to the cancer type were classified.

RESULTS

Among the 244 patients included, the underlying diagnosis was cholangiocarcinoma in 118 patients, pancreatic cancer in 79, and non-pancreatic or non-biliary malignancies in the remaining 47 patients. Early post-ERCP complications occurred in 9 patients (3.7%), with PEP in 7 patients (2.9%; mild, 6; moderate, 1) and mild bleeding in 2 patients (0.8%). There was no significant association between the incidence of post-ERCP complications and the type of malignancy (cholangiocarcinoma vs pancreatic cancer vs others, P = 0.696) or the type of SEMS used (uncovered vs covered, P = 1.000). Patients who had more than one SEMS placed at the first instance were at a significantly higher risk of post-ERCP complications (one SEMS vs two SEMS, P = 0.031). No other factors were predictive of post-ERCP complications.

CONCLUSION

Limited ES is feasible and safe, and effectively facilitates the placement of SEMS, without any significant risk of PEP or severe bleeding.

Keywords: Endoscopic sphincterotomy, Endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography, Complications, Pancreatitis, Bleeding, Cholestasis, Self-expandable metal stent

Core tip: The role of routine endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) is still controversial in biliary stenting and there is a lack of systematic study for the extent of ES and its correlation with the incidence of complications. We retrospectively evaluated the safety and efficacy of limited ES before self-expandable metal stent insertion. We have proved in this study that limited ES doesn't increase the risk of post-procedure complications such as post-endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography pancreatitis and bleeding. Also, it is advantageous in facilitating the more complex stenting procedures. Therefore, limited ES can be a safe, feasible, and effective therapeutic strategy in the placement of self-expandable metal stent.