Endoscopic ultrasound-guided drainage of pancreatic fluid collections : the impact of evolving experience and new technologies in diagnosis and treatment over the last two decades

Background: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided drainage is the preferred approach for drainage of pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs) due to the better experience and significant progress using newer stents and access devices during last decade. This study aimed to evaluate the role of the evolving experience and possible influence of new technological devices on the outcome of patients evaluated for PFCs and submitted to EUS-guided drainage during two different periods: the early period at the beginning of ex- perience when a standardized technique was used and the late period when the increased experience of the operator, combined with different stents quality were introduced in the management of PFCs. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of a cohort of 91 consecutive patients, who underwent EUS-guided drainage of symptomatic PFCs from October 2001 to September 2017. Demographic, therapeutic results, complications, and outcomes were compared between early years\u2019 group (20 01\u201320 08) and late years\u2019 group (2009\u20132017). Results: Endoscopic treatment was successfully achieved in 55.6% (20/36) of patients in the early years\u2019 group, and in 96.4% (53/55) in the late years\u2019 group. Eighteen patients (12 in early years\u2019 and 6 in the late year\u2019s group) required additional open surgery. Procedural complications were observed in 5 patients, 4 in early years\u2019 and 1 in late years\u2019 group. Mortality was registered in two patients (2.2%), one for each group. Conclusions: During our long-term survey using EUS-guided endoscopic drainage of PFCs, significantly better outcomes in term of improved success rate and decrease complications rate were observed during the late period