Permanent endoscopic gallbladder stenting versus removal of gallbladder drainage, long-term outcomes after management of acute cholecystitis in high-risk surgical patients for cholecystectomy: Multi-center retrospective cohort study

Background: Endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder drainage (EGBD) has been reported as an effective gallbladder drainage treatment option for acute cholecystitis in high-risk surgical patients. However, the long-term outcomes such as cholecystitis' recurrence rate after placement of EGB stenting (EGBS) have not been well studied yet.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to compare the long-term outcome of EGBS and removal of gallbladder drainage after percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) or endoscopic nasogallbladder drainage (ENGBD) for acute cholecystitis in high-risk surgical patients and clarify the usefulness of long-term placement of EGBS.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 180 high-risk surgical patients with acute cholecystitis between January 2010 and December 2018. The patients were divided into two groups: EGBS group (long-term placement of EGBS) or Removal group (removal of drainage tube after PTGBD or ENGBD). Clinical outcomes, including long-term results, were compared between the groups.

Results: The cumulative late adverse event (AE) rates were 5.0% and 22.1% in the EGBS and Removal group (P = .002), with a median follow-up period of 375 and 307 days in the two groups, respectively. The cumulative cholecystitis recurrence rate was 5.0% (2/40) in the EGBS group and 16% (21/131) in the Removal group (P = .024), respectively. In the multivariate analysis for late AE, only EGBS was an independent risk factor with a decreasing value.

Conclusion: The permanent EGBS in high-risk surgical patients with acute cholecystitis was considered effective in reducing the risk of late AE.