Factors Predictive of Adverse Events Associated with Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration of Pancreatic Solid Lesions

Background Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) provides high diagnostic accuracy with a low incidence of procedural complications. However, it occasionally causes serious complications, and factors that increase the susceptibility to such adverse events remain unknown. Aims We aimed to examine post-procedural events and determine risk factors associated with EUS-FNA of pancreatic solid lesions. Methods This single-center retrospective study included 316 consecutive patients with pancreatic solid lesions who underwent 327 EUS-FNA procedures from April 2003 to September 2011. We registered all patients undergoing EUS-FNA in the database and retrospectively ascertained the presence/absence of post-procedural adverse events. Results The incidence of post-procedural adverse events, including moderate to mild pancreatitis, mild abdominal pain, and mild bleeding, was 3.4 %. Univariate analysis showed that the incidence of post-procedural events was significantly increased in patients with tumors less than or equal to 20 mm in diameter (P