Introduction: Endoscopic cholangiopancreatography (ECP) has an established role in the diagnostic and treatment of biliopancreatic diseases. It is performed in supine position, under intravenous sedation to avoid movements and discomfort of the patient.
Objective: To evaluate the safety of anesthetic procedure in elderly and younger patients who underwent ECP.
Patients and methods: A prospective, comparative study enrolling 450 consecutive patients who underwent ERCP in 2007 was performed. The following variables were documented: gender, age, comorbid conditions, reason for referral, diagnostic, therapeutic procedures, American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) classification, anesthetic drugs, duration of the procedure and complications.
Results: Patients were divided into two groups: 126 patients >65 years of age and 324 <65 years of age. Group A had a higher incidence of comorbid conditions (p <0.001). All procedures were performed under sedation with propofol. Anesthetic complications were detected in 6% of patients, without a statistical significance between ASA group (p = 0.7) or age groups (p = 0.1). No procedure-related mortality was documented.
Conclusion: ECP under deep IV sedation is a safe procedure in elderly patients and has a low anesthetic complication rate.