Increasing Antibiotic-Resistant Infections With Inpatient Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangioscopies (ERCP) Is Associated With Higher Mortality in the United States

Goals: This study aims to investigate associated mortality with inpatient endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with and without resistant infections. The co-primary objective compares frequencies of inpatient ERCP with resistant infections to overall hospitalizations with resistant infections. Background: The risks of inpatient antibiotic-resistant organisms are known, but the associated mortality for inpatient ERCP is unknown. We aim to use a national database of hospitalizations and procedures to understand trends and mortality for patients with antibiotic-resistant infections during inpatient ERCP. Study: The largest publicly available all-payer inpatient database in the United States (National Inpatient Sample) was used to identify hospitalizations associated with ERCPs and antibiotic-resistant infections for MRSA, VRE, ESBL, and MDRO. National estimates were generated, frequencies were compared across years, and multivariate regression for mortality was performed. Results: From 2017 to 2020, national weighted estimates of 835,540 inpatient ERCPs were generated, and 11,440 ERCPs had coincident resistant infections. Overall resistant infection, MRSA, VRE, and MDRO identified at the same hospitalization of inpatient ERCPs were associated with higher mortality (OR CI(95%): Overall: 2.2(1.77–2.88), MRSA: 1.90 (1.34–2.69), VRE: 3.53 (2.16–5.76), and MDRO: 2.52 (1.39–4.55)). While overall hospitalizations with resistant infections have been decreasing annually, there has been a yearly increase in admissions requiring ERCPs with simultaneous resistant infections ( P =0.001–0.013), as well as infections with VRE, ESBL, and MDRO ( P =0.001–0.016). Required Research Practices for Studies Using the NIS scoring was 0, or the most optimal. Conclusions: Inpatient ERCPs have increasing coincident resistant infections and are associated with higher mortality. These rising infections during ERCP highlight the importance of endoscopy suite protocols and endoscopic infection control devices.