Background: This study was undertaken to evaluate the safety and efficacy of surgeons performing esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and to use these results to assess existing credentialing guidelines for surgeons.
Methods: A prospective outcomes study was designed to accept input from members of SAGES. End points were the time taken and rate of success in reaching the duodenum, the frequency of arriving at a diagnosis, and complications of EGD as related to operator experience.
Results: Information from a total of 3,525 EGDs was prospectively entered into a database between December 2001 and December 2002. Common indications were abdominal pain/nausea/vomiting (34.8%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (24.9%) and dysphagia (17.4%). The findings were inflammation in 1,895 (53.8%), hiatus hernia in 1,010 (28.7%), nonbleeding ulcer in 462 (13.1%), bleeding ulcer in 59 (1.7%), stricture in 344 (9.8%), and polyp/tumor in 206 (5.8%). Biopsies were obtained in 2080 (59.0%). Concomittant procedures performed were dilation in 253 (7.2%), removal of a foreign body (FB) or removal/insertion of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube (PEG) in 190 (5.4%), and polypectomy in 59 (1.7%). The EGD was completed to the duodenum in 3282 patients (93.1%) with a mean procedure time of 9.2 min (range 1-60 min). Examination of the duodenum was not attempted in 231 patients for reasons such as previous gastric surgery ( n = 119), obstruction ( n = 58) or because the EGD was done for FB/PEG removal or PEG placement ( n = 36). Attempted EGD could not be completed in 12 patients (0.3%). The most common complication was hypoxia ( n = 57, 1.6%), which was treated with supplemental oxygen and observation. New bleeding occurred in eight patients and the procedure failed to control bleeding in three others. No complications occurred in 3447 patients (97.8%). Completion rates and major complications were not correlated to experience, but there was a significant association between experience and the time required for completion of the procedure ( p < 0.0001).
Conclusions: This study shows that surgeons can perform EGD with a high degree of success and low morbidity. On the basis of this large prospective study, no minimum number of cases could be proposed for credentialing surgeons to safely perform either diagnostic or therapeutic esophagogastroduodenoscopy.