Percutaneous cholecystostomy-tube for high-risk patients with acute cholecystitis: current practice and implications...

While cholecystectomy (CCY) is the standard of care for gallstone-related acute cholecystitis, percutaneous cholecystostomy-tube (CCYT-tube) is an alternative option in patients with significant comorbid conditions. We sought to identify immediate and longitudinal hospital outcomes of patients who underwent CCYT-tube placement and determine predictors of CCYT-tube placement and eventual CCY on a national level in the US.

We identified all adults (age ≥ 18 years) with a primary diagnosis of acute calculous cholecystitis from January to November 2013 in the Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD). The NRD allows longitudinal follow-up of a patient for one calendar year. Outcomes of patients undergoing CCY and CCYT-tube were compared. Separate univariable and multivariable regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of CCYT-tube placement and failure to undergo subsequent CCY.

A total of 181,262 patients had an index hospitalization with acute cholecystitis where 178,095 (98.3%) patients underwent only CCY and 3167 (1.7%) patients were managed with CCYT-tubes. Among patients with CCYT-tube, 1196 (37.8%) underwent eventual CCY in 2013, while 1971 (62.2%) did not. One in five patients with CCYT-tube were readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that increasing age, male gender, coronary artery disease, cirrhosis, atrial fibrillation, diastolic congestive heart failure, and sepsis were associated with CCYT-tube placement. Longitudinal follow-up revealed that older age (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.09-1.23), Elixhauser comorbidity score 3-4 (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.03-3.63), cirrhosis (OR 3.28, 95% CI 1.59-6.79), and diastolic congestive heart failure (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.33-4.60) were associated with failure to undergo subsequent CCY.

In this national survey, nearly two in three patients who receive CCYT-tube for acute cholecystitis do not get CCY during longitudinal data capture within the same calendar year. Future research needs to target novel options for drainage of the gallbladder in high-risk patient populations.