A prospective nationwide study on the impact of the level of sedation on cannulation success and complications of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography

Difficult or unsuccessful cannulation of the papilla of Vater is associated with complications during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). The aim of this study was to investigate whether deep sedation facilitates the cannulation and reduces the complication rate. Nationwide data from ERCP procedures were registered prospectively in the web-based Swedish Registry for Gallstone Surgery and ERCP (GallRiks). These data were used for a case-control study comparing the outcomes when using propofol sedation (PS) or basic sedation (BS) with midazolam in combination with opioids. We analyzed 31,001 ERCP procedures in patients who had no previous ERCP. Of these, 14,907 were performed using PS and 16,094 using BS. The cannulation rate was higher in the PS group than the BS group: 89.0% vs. 86.7%, P