Using databases to minimize endoscopic complications

Providing quality clinical care as an endoscopist includes minimizing endoscopic complications. Over time, endoscopists learn which complications related to a procedure are to be expected. By using an endoscopy database, expected and unexpected complication data may be collected and assessed. This article describes what a database is, what information it contains, and how it might be used to minimize complications. In addition, the difficulties in ascertaining complications (describing them accurately, reporting them, and when possible, altering endoscopic practice to minimize them) are discussed.