Thirty-Day Readmissions After Upper and Lower Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage: A National Perspective in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (UGIH) and lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage (LGIH) are 2 of the most common reasons for hospital admissions across the United States. The 30-day readmission after index admission poses a major burden on the health care infrastructure, and thus, it is important to assess the causes of 30-day readmission for patients with UGIH and LGIH. METHODS: The study cohort was derived from the 2013 National Readmission Database. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) Volume 3 diagnosis codes were utilized to identify UGIH and LGIH patients from this data set. Patients who were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days within the same calendar year were further analyzed. Categorical variables and continuous variables were assessed by the χ test and the student t test, respectively. The independent predictors of unplanned 30-day readmissions were recognized by multivariate logistic regression, adjusting for stratified cluster design of National Readmission Database. SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The number of index admissions identified from the National Readmission Data 2013 were 82,290 for UGIH and 133,114 for LGIH. All-cause 30-day readmission rate for UGIH versus LGIH was 14.6% (readmitted N=12,046; 56.64% age 65 y and above) versus 14.4% (readmitted N=19,128; 70.21% age 65 y and above and 49.61% men). Gastrointestinal causes were most common (33.9% vs. 39.6%), followed by cardiac (13.3% vs. 15.3%), infectious (10.4% vs. 9.1%), and respiratory causes (7.8% vs. 7.1%) for 30-day readmission for UGIH and LGIH. Significant predictors of increased 30-day readmission (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval, P-value) included metastatic disease (2.15, 1.75-2.64, P<0.001), discharge against medical advice (1.85, 1.55-2.22, P<0.001), and length of stay >3 days (1.50, 1.38-1.63, P<0.001). Predictors for 30-day readmission for LGIH included metastatic disease (1.75, 1.48-2.06, P<0.001), liver disease (1.59, 1.49-1.71, P<0.001), and drug abuse (1.38, 1.21-1.58, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Most common reason for UGIH and LGIH readmission was related to gastrointestinal disease, followed by cardiac, infectious, and respiratory etiologies. By addressing these etiologies for readmission, it may be possible to reduce adverse outcomes.

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome between 24 and 48 h after ERCP predicts prolonged length of stay in patients with post-ERCP pancreatitis: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Early systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) has been associated with severe non-iatrogenic acute pancreatitis. The aims of this study were to determine whether early SIRS could be used to predict severe post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) and to determine the effect of prophylactic-pancreatic stenting (PS) on SIRS and severe PEP. METHODS: Between 1/2000 and 6/2012, all patients admitted for PEP after an outpatient ERCP and who had ≥1 abdominal CT scan during hospitalization were retrospectively evaluated. The presence of SIRS was assessed between 0 and 24 h and 24 and 48 h after the time of ERCP completion. SIRS was evaluated as a predictor of severe PEP using area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: There were 113 patients with PEP of whom 22 (19.5%) had severe PEP. SIRS was present in 44 (38.9%) and 33 (29.2%) patients between 0 and 24 h and 24 and 48 h, respectively. SIRS between 24 and 48 h had a higher predictive accuracy for severe PEP compared to SIRS between 0 and 24 h (AUROC = 0.7 vs. 0.5, p = 0.002). The prevalence of SIRS between 24 and 48 h was significantly less among the 19 patients who underwent PS (11% vs. 37%, p = 0.03). There was no difference between the prophylactic stenting and no stenting groups with regards to acute fluid collection(s), pancreatic necrosis, organ failure or mortality during hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: SIRS between 24 and 48 h after ERCP is an accurate, easy to obtain, and inexpensive predictor of severe PEP. PS is associated with a decreased prevalence of SIRS between 24 and 48 h after ERCP.