Racial disparities in the management of gallstone pancreatitis: deviations from standard of care

To evaluate racial disparities in managing gallstone pancreatitis.

Gallstone pancreatitis, responsible for 40 ​% of U.S. acute pancreatitis cases, has higher mortality than alcohol-induced pancreatitis. The standard care is same-admission cholecystectomy, but prior research links race with reduced odds of receiving this procedure.

Using the National Inpatient Sample (2015-2019), we analyzed patients ≥18 diagnosed with gallstone pancreatitis. Race/ethnicity was our primary variable, with same-admission cholecystectomy as the outcome. Propensity scores and inverse probability of treatment weighting adjusted for covariates like age, mortality indices, hospital type, and payor status.

Among 274,215 patients (mean age 58), 62 ​% received same-admission cholecystectomy; 9.2 ​% identified as non-Hispanic Black. After propensity score matching, non-Hispanic Black patients were less likely to undergo same-admission cholecystectomy than non-Hispanic White patients (OR 0.84, p ​< ​0.0001).

Racial disparities in gallstone pancreatitis care persist, highlighting inequities in access to the standard of care in the U.S.