Low Body Mass Index and Risk of Endoscopy-Related Adverse Events: A United States Cohort Propensity Score—Matched Study

Abstract

Background and Aims

Patients with a low body mass index (LBMI) are often encountered in routine outpatient gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy practice, and the assessment of procedure-related risks in this subset of individuals remains paramount. Although the risk of endoscopy-related adverse events (AEs) has been reported in patients with obesity, the association between LBMI and AEs has not been established.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX, a multi-institutional database, to assess the risk of endoscopy-related AEs in patients with LBMI (<18.4 kg/m²) compared with patients with a nonobese body mass index (18.5-29.9 kg/m²) (control cohort) after low-risk outpatient diagnostic esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), colonoscopy, or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement. One-to-one (1:1) propensity score matching was performed. The primary endpoints were to assess the risk of GI bleeding, perforation, or aspiration pneumonia within 30 days. Risk was expressed as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals.

Results

A total of 28,677, 18,449, and 3076 patients with LBMI underwent EGD, colonoscopy, and PEG tube placement, respectively. After propensity score matching, compared with the control cohort, patients with LBMI undergoing EGD and colonoscopy with or without biopsies were at an increased risk for GI bleeding (aOR 1.36 and 2.21), perforation (aOR 1.96 and 2.65), and aspiration pneumonia (aOR 3.13 and 2.71), respectively. Additionally, patients in the LBMI PEG cohort were found to be at an increased risk for aspiration pneumonia (aOR 1.33).

Conclusion

Our study shows that, when compared with nonobese controls, patients with LBMI are at an increased risk of endoscopy-related AEs. Appropriate precautions must be considered while performing routine endoscopic procedures to offset these risks in such patients.