Dong Yangfan, Wubulikasimu Halimulati, Liu Yu, Ma Yusheng, Jiang Lai, Duan Shaobin
Objective To investigate the postoperative complications of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in older patients and risk factors. Methods A total of 400 patients who underwent ERCP or those who were successfully treated in the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from October 2017 to December 2023 were retrospectively involved, including 228 males and 172 females. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they had postoperative complications: control group and complication group. The general conditions, preoperative diagnosis, comorbidities, laboratory examinations of the two groups were recorded. Univariate regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for serious complications after surgery. Results A total of 32 patients had postoperative complications, and the incidence of postoperative complications was 8.0%. Compared with the control group, the patients in the complication group were significantly older (P=0.003), and had significantly lower body mass index (BMI) (P=0.013), higher proportions of poorly controlled hypertension and diabetes mellitus, pulmonary dysfunction, history of ERCP, difficult intubation, Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD), proportion of common bile duct stenosis (P<0.05). Univariate regression analysis showed that age (OR=1.25, 95% CI:1.05-1.22, P=0.001), BMI (OR=0.88, 95% CI:0.78-0.98,P=0.02), poorly controlled blood pressure (OR=2.0, 95% CI:1.5-4.0,P=0.000 1), poorly controlled blood glucose (OR=1.5, 95% CI:1.00-2.01,P=0.02), pulmonary dysfunction (OR=0.88, 95% CI:0.78-0.98,P=0.02), history of ERCP (OR=2.2, 95% CI:1.45-3.01,P=0.001), SOD (OR=3.82, 95% CI:2.15-5.88, P=0.001), and common bile duct stenosis (OR=1.48, 95% CI:0.49-4.51,P=0.002) were associated with postoperative complications of ERCP. Conclusion In older patients, factors such as age, BMI, poorly controlled hypertension and diabetes, pulmonary dysfunction, prior ERCP history, sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, and CBD stenosis are all significantly associated with post-ERCP complications. The incidence of postoperative complications following ERCP in elderly patients is relatively low, with no severe complications observed, indicating that ERCP is a safe and effective diagnostic and therapeutic procedure for this population.