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ANALYSIS OF OUTPATIENT UPPER ENDOSCOPY IN THE CALGARY HEALTH REGION DURING THE 2006 FISCAL YEAR
SE Congly1, RJ Hilsden2
1Division of General Medicine; 2Division of Gastroenterology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
BACKGROUND: Upper endoscopies are commonly performed in the outpatient setting. Given that upper endoscopy is resource intense, understanding the patient populations as well as the reasons for performing the procedures is important for health resource planning.
AIMS: To retrospectively analyze outpatient upper endoscopies performed in Calgary during the 2006 fiscal year and study the demographics, procedures performed as well as the indications for the procedure.
METHODS: The Alberta Ambulatory Care Classification System database was analyzed to find all upper endoscopies performed in the 2006 fiscal year utilizing Canadian Classification of Health Intervention [CCHI] codes associated with upper endoscopy. ERCP, PEG insertion as well as ENT procedures were excluded from analysis. Colonoscopies performed during the same upper endoscopy session as well as pure colonoscopies captured by CCHI codes were identified.
RESULTS: During the 2006 fiscal year, 7873 records were available for study after exclusions. There was a slight female preponderance (52%) while the age strata of 50-60 years had the most procedures performed for both sexes as well as overall. The most common primary ICD-10-CA diagnostic codes were K29.5–chronic gastritis, unspecified (671), K22.2–oesophageal obstruction (490), R10.4–other and unspecified abdominal pain (392), K22.1–ulcer of oesophagus (351) and K21.9–gastro-oesophageal reflux disease without oesophagitis (343). Therapeutic upper endoscopy was performed in 1014 cases (13%). Preliminary analysis shows that at least 900 patients underwent both colonoscopy and upper endoscopy during the same session.
CONCLUSIONS: The top five primary ICD-10-CA codes were associated with 28% of the procedures, with the most common demographic being women between 50-60 years old. A significant minority of upper endoscopies were therapeutic in nature. Given the aging population, it is likely that the amount of outpatient endoscopies will increase significantly in the future which will have important implications towards health resource budgeting.