Southwestern Surgical CongressEstablishing benchmarks for the management of elevated liver enzymes and/or dilated biliary trees in an urban safety net hospital: analysis of 915 subjects

BackgroundThe push for public reporting of outcomes necessitates relevant benchmarks for disease states across different settings. This study establishes benchmarks for choledocholithiasis management in a safety net hospital setting.MethodsWe reviewed all patients admitted to our acute care surgery service with biochemical evidence of choledocholithiasis who underwent same-admission cholecystectomy (CCY) between July 2012 and December 2013.ResultsDuring this 18-month period, 915 patients were admitted with biochemical evidence of choledocholithiasis. Descriptive statistics for the cohort are provided, which include a 51% rate of obesity and 95% rate of pathologic cholecystitis. Conversion rates of 4% and complication rates of 6% were found. The majority had a CCY without biliary imaging (n = 630, 68.9%).ConclusionsRelevant benchmarks are characterized, and results of a practice pattern of omitting pre- or intraoperative biliary tree imaging are described. These findings serve as a first benchmark of choledocholithiasis management for urban safety net hospitals.