Risk factors for ERCP-related complications in patients with pancreas divisum: a retrospective study

Limited data are available on complication rates of ERCP in patients with pancreas divisum (PD), and it is unclear whether traditional risk factors for post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) apply.

To describe the rates of ERCP complications in patients with PD and assess patient and procedure-related risk factors for PEP.

Retrospective cohort study.

Tertiary care referral center.

A total of 2753 ERCPs performed in 1476 patients with PD from 1997 to 2010.

Rates of PEP, hemorrhage, perforation, cholecystitis, and hospitalization directly attributable to ERCP.

Early complications occurred after 7.8% of procedures, with PEP, hemorrhage, perforation, cholecystitis, and cardiorespiratory complications in 6.8%, 0.7%, 0.2%, 0.1%, and 0.1% of procedures, respectively. PEP was uncommon in patients who did not undergo attempted dorsal duct cannulation, occurring in 1.2% of procedures. With dorsal duct cannulation and cannulation with minor papilla sphincterotomy (MiS), the rates of PEP increased significantly to 8.2% and 10.6%, respectively (P<.01 for each comparison). Significant predictors of PEP after multivariate logistic regression included age younger than 40 (odds ratio [OR] 1.8; 95% CI, 1.27-2.59), female sex (OR 1.94; 95% CI, 1.25-3.01), previous PEP (OR 2.02; 95% CI, 1.32-3.1), attempted dorsal duct cannulation (OR 7.45; 95% CI, 3.25-17.07), and MiS (OR 1.62; 95% CI, 1.05-2.48). Presence of severe chronic pancreatitis was a protective factor (OR 0.46; 95% CI, 0.22-0.98).

Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

Among patients with PD, the rate of PEP is low (1.2%) if dorsal duct cannulation is not attempted. However, patients with PD undergoing dorsal duct cannulation with or without MiS are at high risk of PEP (8.2% without and 10.6% with). Traditional PEP risk factors apply to patients with PD.