Gastrointestinal haemorrhage in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: insights from the national inpatient sample.

Introduction: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is associated with gastrointestinal haemorrhage (GIH), which may result from coagulopathy, systemic inflammation, reduced gastric perfusion, and arteriovenous malformation from non-pulsatile blood flow. Data are limited regarding the burden of this complication in the United States. Material and methods: We analysed the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for the years 2007 to 2011 to identify hospitalisations in which an ECMO procedure was performed. Hospitalizations complicated by GIH in this cohort were then identified by relevant codes. Results: Between 2007 and 2011, ECMO hospitalisations increased from 1869 to 3799 (p < 0.01). The proportion of hospitalisations complicated by GIH increased from 2.12% in 2007 to 7.46% in 2011 (p < 0.01). Gastrointestinal haemorrhage was more common in men (56.7%) and in Caucasians (57.4%). Common comorbidities in this population were renal failure (71%), anaemia (55%), and hypertension (26%). All-cause inpatient mortality showed a numerical but nonsignificant increase from 56.7% to 61.9% (p = 0.49). The average cost of care per hospitalisation with GIH associated with ECMO use increased from $132,420 in 2007 to $215,673 in 2011 (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Gastrointestinal haemorrhage during ECMO hospitalisations occurred in small but significantly increasing proportions. The inpatient mortality rate and costs associated with GIH were substantial and increased significantly during the study period.

Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia: Trends of Hospitalizations, Biodemographic Characteristics, and Outcomes With Watermelon Stomach.

BACKGROUND: Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) syndrome is a rare but significant cause of acute or chronic gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, particularly in the elderly. The primary objective of this study was to determine the biodemographic characteristics, adverse outcomes, and the impact of GAVE hospitalizations on the US healthcare system. METHODS: This retrospective database cross-sectional study used the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2001 to 2011 to identify all adult hospitalizations with a primary discharge diagnosis of GAVE, with and without hemorrhage, using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes. Individuals less than 17 years of age were excluded from the study. The outcomes included biodemographic characteristics, comorbidity measures, and inpatient mortality and the burden of the disease on the US healthcare system in terms of healthcare cost and utilization. RESULTS: We noted an increase in the total hospitalizations for GAVE from 25,423 in 2001 to 44,787 in 2011. Furthermore, GAVE hospitalizations with hemorrhage rose from 19,168 in 2001 to 27,679 in 2011 while GAVE hospitalization without hemorrhage increased from 6,255 in 2001 to 17,108 in 2011. We also noted a female predominance, the proportional trend of which did not show significant difference from 2001 to 2011. For GAVE hospitalizations, the inpatient mortality decreased from 2.20% in 2001 to 1.73% in 2011. However, the cost of hospitalization increased from $11,590 in 2001 to $12,930 in 2011. After adjusting for possible confounders, we observed that the presence of hemorrhage in GAVE hospitalizations was associated with an increased risk of mortality (odds ratio (OR): 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1 - 1.46; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: For the study period, the total number of GAVE hospitalizations increased with an increase noted in the proportion of GAVE hospitalizations without bleeding, reflecting an improvement in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Although inpatient mortality for GAVE slightly decreased, we noted a significant increase in the cost of care likely secondary to increased use of advanced and expensive interventions.

Acute Recurrent Exacerbations of Mesenteric Panniculitis With Immunosuppressive Therapy: A Case Report and a Brief Review.

Mesenteric panniculitis (MP) is a rare, benign, and idiopathic disorder characterized by chronic inflammation of the mesenteric adipose tissue of the small intestine. The exact etiology of MP is unknown and its associations with underlying malignancies continues to be poorly understood. In this case report, we describe a rare case of acute exacerbations of MP in a middle-age female with a known past medical history of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in remission and small bowel resection for a localized carcinoid tumor. The patient was diagnosed with MP 4 years ago and started on tamoxifen therapy with adequate control of her symptoms. Last year, she reported to the emergency department with multiple episodes of sudden-onset, severe, and localized right upper quadrant abdominal pain and nausea without vomiting. She was diagnosed with an acute exacerbation of MP and a decision was made to add 60 mg prednisone daily in addition to her tamoxifen regimen. She remained symptomatically stable for the next 6 months after the start of dual therapy with tamoxifen and prednisone. However, for the past 6 months, the patient reported to the emergency department on an average of 2 times/month with the same recurrent symptoms despite high compliance with tamoxifen and prednisone therapy. She was admitted for her pain management and her dose of prednisone was increased and she was subsequently discharged home with improvement of her symptoms. Her tamoxifen was switched to mycophenolate on her follow-up visit with gastrointestinal clinic, and her disease has remained stable for the past 2 months. Our case report discusses in-depth the literature on MP and its management. We also detail the steps in management of a rare case of recurrent acute exacerbations of MP despite the patient being on immunosuppressive therapy.

Paralytic ileus in the United States: A cross-sectional study from the national inpatient sample.

INTRODUCTION: Paralytic ileus is a common clinical condition leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Most studies to date have focused on postoperative ileus, a common but not exclusive cause of the condition. There are limited epidemiological data regarding the incidence and impact of paralytic ileus and its relationship to other clinical conditions. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed national inpatient hospitalization trends, demographic variation, cost of care, length of stay, and mortality for paralytic ileus hospitalizations as a whole. METHODS: The National Inpatient Sample database was used to identify all hospitalizations with the diagnosis of paralytic ileus (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision code 560.1) as primary or secondary diagnosis during the period from 2001 to 2011. Statistical analysis was performed using Cochran-Armitage trend test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and Poisson regression. RESULTS: In 2001, there were 362,561 hospitalizations with the diagnosis of paralytic ileus as compared to 470,110 in 2011 (p < 0.0001). The age group 65-79 years was most commonly affected by paralytic ileus throughout the study period. In-hospital all-cause mortality decreased from 6.03% in 2001 to 5.10% in 2011 (p < 0.0001). However, the average cost of care per hospitalization increased from US$19,739 in 2001 to US$26,198 in 2011 (adjusted for inflation, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: There was a significant rise in the number of hospitalizations of paralytic ileus with increased cost of care and reduced all-cause mortality.

Post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis prevention using topical epinephrine: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background and study aims Post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (PEP) is a common complication of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Multiple drugs and techniques have been studied for the prevention of PEP. Topical epinephrine has shown mixed results and is still not widely accepted as an alternative for prevention of PEP. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of topical epinephrine in preventing PEP. Methods A comprehensive literature review was conducted by searching Cochrane library database, Embase and PubMed up to August 2019, to identify all studies that evaluated use of topical epinephrine alone or in conjunction with other agents for prevention of PEP. Outcomes included prevention of PEP with use of topical epinephrine and evaluation of whether addiing epinephrine provides any additional benefit in preventing PEP. All analysis was conducted using Revman 5.3. Results Eight studies, including six randomized controlled trials and two observational studies with 4123 patients, were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, there was no difference in incidence of PEP in patients who underwent ERCP and were treated with epinephrine spray versus those who were not, RR = 0.63 (CI 0.32-1.24) with heterogeneity (I2 = 72 %). However, on a subgroup analysis, topical epinephrine significantly decreases the risk of PEP when compared to placebo alone (means no intervention was done including no rectal indomethacin)., RR = 0.32 (0.18-0.57). In another subgroup analysis, there was no statistically significant difference in using topical epinephrine along with rectal indomethacin in preventing PEP compared to rectal indomethacin alone RR = 0.87 (0.46-1.64). Conclusion Topical epinephrine does not provide any additional benefit in preventing PEP when used in conjunction with rectal indomethacin. In subgroup analysis, topical epinephrine appeared to decrease risk of PEP in the absence of rectal indomethacin, and could be considered when rectal indomethacin is unavailable or if there is a contraindication to its use.

Seasonal Impacts on the Incidence of Esophageal Variceal Hemorrhage: A Nationwide Analysis across a Decade.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Seasonal variation has previously been reported in relation to the incidence of non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding; however, the impact of seasonal variation on variceal bleeding is not known. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2005 to 2014. International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification- 9th Revision codes were used to identify patients hospitalized with a primary or secondary diagnosis of esophageal variceal hemorrhage. The data were analyzed based on the month of hospitalization. Our primary aim was to assess seasonal variations in variceal bleeding-related hospitalizations. The secondary aims were to assess the impact of seasonal variation on outcomes in variceal bleeding including in-hospital mortality and healthcare resource utilization. RESULTS: A total of 348,958 patients hospitalized with esophageal variceal bleeding were included. The highest number of hospitalizations was reported in December (99.3/day) and the lowest was reported in June (90.8/day). In-hospital mortality was highest in January (11.5%) and lowest in June (9.8%). There was no significant difference in hospital length of stay or total hospitalization costs across all months in all years combined. CONCLUSION: There appears to be a seasonal variation in the incidence and mortality of variceal hemorrhage in the United States. December was the month with the highest number of daily hospitalizations while the nadir occurred in June.

Inpatient burden of esophageal varices in the United States: analysis of trends in demographics, cost of care, and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal variceal bleeding remains a common reason for hospitalization in the United States. The main objective of this study was to analyze demographic variations and outcomes in hospitalizations related to esophageal varices (EV) in the US. METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational cohort study using National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for all hospitalizations with discharge diagnoses of EV, with and without hemorrhage from 2001 to 2011. RESULTS: In 2001, there were 19,167 hospitalizations with discharge diagnoses of EV with and without bleeding compared to 45,578 in 2011 (P<0.001). There was a 138% increase in the number of total EV hospitalizations, a 221% increase in hospitalizations with EV without hemorrhage, and a 7% increase in hospitalizations for patients with EV and hemorrhage. Age group 50-64 was the most affected, accounting for 31.4% of EV hospitalizations in 2001 and 46.7% of EV hospitalizations in 2011 (P<0.001). The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 3.4% for patients with EV without hemorrhage and 8.7% for patients with EV with hemorrhage (P=0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: The number of hospitalizations for patients with asymptomatic EV increased significantly between 2001 to 2011, with only a small concurrent increase in the number of hospitalizations for patients with esophageal variceal bleeding.

Inpatient burden of gastric cancer in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Over one-half of patients have advanced disease at the time of presentation, leading to a significant burden on the healthcare system. Limited epidemiological data exists on national inpatient hospitalization trends. The aim of this study is to determine the inpatient burden of gastric cancer in the United States. METHODS: We analyzed the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for all subjects with the diagnosis of malignant neoplasm of the stomach (ICD-9 code 151.x) as primary diagnosis during the period from 2001-2011. NIS is the largest all-payer inpatient care database in the U.S. Statistical significance of variation in the number of hospitalizations, patient demographics, and comorbidity measures was determined using Cochran-Armitage trend test. RESULTS: From 2001 to 2011, the number of hospitalizations with the diagnosis of malignant neoplasm of the stomach ranged between 22,430 and 25,371, however, the trend was not significant. Men were always more affected than women with no significant change in overall proportion (P<0.0001). Overall, in-hospital mortality decreased from 11.19% in 2001 to 6.47% in 2011 (P<0.0001). However, average cost of care per hospitalization increased from $21,710 in 2001 to $24,706 in 2011 (adjusted for inflation, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The total number of hospitalizations remained relatively stable throughout the study period with higher proportion of men affected every year. Although in-hospital mortality in patients with the diagnosis of gastric cancer decreased over the study period, there was a significant rise in the cost of care.