Impact of hospital characteristics on best-practice adherence for gallstone pancreatitis: a nationwide analysis.

Background: Current guidelines recommend cholecystectomy during the index admission for gallstone pancreatitis, and a growing body of evidence indicates that patients benefit from cholecystectomy within the first 48 h of admission. We examined the impact of hospital characteristics on adherence to these data-driven practices.

Methods: We queried the National Inpatient Sample for patients admitted for gallstone pancreatitis between October 2015 and December 2018. Patients who underwent same-admission cholecystectomy were identified by procedure codes. Cholecystectomies within the first two days were classified as early cholecystectomies. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association between hospital characteristics and adherence to these practices.

Results: Of 163,390 admissions for gallstone pancreatitis, only 90,790 (55.6%) underwent cholecystectomy before discharge. Mean time from admission to cholecystectomy was 2.9 days; 27.0% of patients (44,005) underwent early cholecystectomy. Odds of same-admission cholecystectomy were highest in large hospitals (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.13-1.28), urban teaching centers (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.21-1.46), and the South (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.57-1.83). Odds of early cholecystectomy did not vary with hospital size, urban-rural status, or teaching status but were highest in the West (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.80-2.18).

Conclusion: Best-practice adherence for cholecystectomy in gallstone pancreatitis remains low despite an abundance of evidence and clinical practice guidelines. Active interventions are needed to improve delivery of surgical care for this patient population. Implementation efforts should focus on small hospitals, rural areas, and health systems in the Northeast region.