Authors' objectives:

The aim of this review is to compare the clinical and cost-effectiveness of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) with diagnostic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for the investigation of biliary obstruction.

Authors' recommendations: There is some evidence that MRCP is an accurate investigation compared with diagnostic ERCP, although the values for malignancy compared with choledocholithiasis were somewhat lower. The quality of studies was moderate. The limited evidence on patient satisfaction showed that patients preferred MRCP to diagnostic ERCP. The estimated clinical and economic impacts of diagnostic MRCP versus diagnostic ERCP are very favourable. The baseline estimate is that MRCP may both reduce cost and result in improved quality of life outcomes compared with diagnostic ERCP. The uncertainty analysis, investigating the impact of parametric uncertainty within the model, indicates that this result is robust. However, there are marked uncertainties in the structure and assumptions within the decision analytical model that are not captured within this parametric uncertainty analysis. The results presented in this assessment will thus overstate the robustness of the economic outcomes for MRCP.

Authors' methods: Systematic review, Economic evaluation

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.hta.ac.uk/1355

Year Published: 2004

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: England, United Kingdom

Organisation Name: NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme

Contact Address: NIHR Journals Library, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, Alpha House, University of Southampton Science Park, Southampton SO16 7NS, UK

Contact Name: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

Contact Email: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

Copyright: 2009 Queen's Printer and Controller of HMSO