Radiologic Predictors of Increased Number of Necrosectomies During Endoscopic Management of Walled-off Pancreatic Necrosis.

GOALS: No established methods exist to predict who will require a higher number of endoscopic necrosectomy sessions for walled-off necrosis (WON). We aim to identify radiologic predictors for requiring a greater number of necrosectomy sessions. This may help to identify patients who benefit from aggressive endoscopic management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a multicenter retrospective study of patients with WON at 3 tertiary care centers. WON characteristics on preintervention computed tomography imaging were evaluated to determine if they were predictive of requiring more endoscopic necrosectomy. RESULTS: A total of 104 patients were included. Seventy patients (67.3%) underwent endoscopic necrosectomy, with median of 2 necrosectomies. WON largest transverse diameters (P=0.02), largest coronal diameters (P=0.01), necrosis pattern [likelihood ratio (LR)=17.85, P<0.001], spread (LR=11.02, P=0.01), hemorrhage (LR=8.64, P=0.003), and presence of disconnected pancreatic duct (LR=6.80, P=0.01) were associated with undergoing ≥2 necrosectomies. Patients with septations/loculations were significantly less likely to undergo ≥2 necrosectomies (LR=4.86, P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Several computed tomography radiologic features were significantly associated with undergoing ≥2 necrosectomies. These could help identify patients who will undergo a higher number of endoscopic necrosectomy sessions.

Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Transrectal Drainage of Perirectal Abscess in a Patient with Crohn Disease.

BACKGROUND Crohn disease (CD) is an idiopathic chronic inflammatory disease that can present in the perianal area as perianal CD (pCD), which can present as fistulizing or non-fistulizing. Perirectal abscesses are common complications that are strongly associated with fistula formation. Draining an abscess and not treating the associated fistula leads to a high risk of disease recurrence. An extensive workup is needed to determine the nature and extent of disease and guide the appropriate treatment strategy. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an important modality for diagnosing CD-associated perianal or perirectal abscesses. It also has been used for treatment as an alternative to conventional surgical and percutaneous drainage techniques because it is minimally invasive and outcomes with it are good. The present report documents the case of a man with a history of CD who was diagnosed with a perirectal abscess that was managed with EUS-guided transrectal drainage. CASE REPORT A 58-year-old man with a history of CD presented with a 2-week history of chills, body aches, fatigue, and myalgia and a 1-week history of severe perirectal pain with worsening swelling. After a detailed history-taking, physical examination, and diagnostic workup, he was diagnosed with a CD-associated perirectal abscess. The patient and the attending physician decided to proceed with EUS-guided transrectal drainage. CONCLUSIONS Our case provides data regarding use of EUS for treatment of a CD- associated perirectal abscess.

EUS-guided fiducial placement for pancreatobiliary malignancies: safety, infection risk, and use of peri-procedural antibiotics.

Background and study aims Chemoradiation with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is increasingly being used for optimal treatment of locally advanced pancreatobiliary cancers. Fiducial markers are used to track these tumors during SBRT. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is the preferred route for fiducial marker placement for ease of access to pancreatobiliary structures and accurate placement. Here we evaluate the safety and infection risk associated with EUS-guided fiducial placement for pancreatobiliary malignancies and use of peri-procedural prophylactic antibiotics. Patients and methods This was a retrospective, single-center study including consecutive patients presenting for EUS-guided fiducial placement in pancreatobiliary region by three expert interventional endoscopists for SBRT from July 2010 to February 2018 at a tertiary care center. Patient demographics, tumor characteristics, EUS technique, fiducials, use of prophylactic antibiotics, adverse events (AEs) and SBRT/Cyberknife administration were reported. Results A total of 355 patients with pancreatobiliary malignancy underwent EUS-guided fiducial placement, of whom 308 patients (86.76 %) successfully underwent SBRT. Of the patients, 304 (85.63 %) received peri-procedural prophylactic antibiotic. Of 355 total patients, 5.9 % (n = 21) were noted to develop AEs (mild to severe) with no significant difference in incidence of infection with or without use of peri-procedural prophylactic antibiotic. Only three patients developed infectious AEs, none of which were definitively related to fiducial placement. Conclusion EUS-guided fiducial placement for pancreatobiliary malignancy is safe and efficacious, and risk of infection is rare, regardless of whether or not peri-procedural antibiotics are used. We favor limiting routine use of peri-procedural antibiotics for patients undergoing EUS-guided fiducial placement in pancreaticobiliary malignancy.