Pancreatic endotherapy improves quality of life in patients with chronic pancreatitis: Study

A validated CP-specific quality of life instrument (PANQOLI) was used in this single-center prospective trial to evaluate quality of life prior to the start of endotherapy. At 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of follow-up, quality of life, pain levels, and opiate use were also assessed. Celiac plexus block (EUS-CPB), EUS-guided pseudocyst drainage, PD stone lithotripsy, and therapeutic PD stent insertion were among the PET modalities. At each follow-up point, quality of life changes before and after PET were compared using a repeated measures mixed effects model.

In all, 120 CP subjects were involved in this investigation. The most common PET modalities were EUS-CPB (32.5%), PD stone lithotripsy (16.7%), and therapeutic PD stenting (49.2%). At 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after completing the PET, there were notable improvements in quality of life scores, with the biggest improvement occurring at 6 months.

At the 1- and 6-month follow-ups, there were notable reductions in pain levels; but, at the 12-month follow-up, there were none. Opiate use decreased at every follow-up point. Despite pancreatic endotherapy has been linked to improvements in quality of life for up to a year after treatment, pain relief was only observed 6 months after treatment which indicates the difficulty of managing pain in this challenging patient population. 

Source:

Han, S., Rueb, N., Nikahd, M., Pessorrusso, F., Wani, S., Edmundowicz, S. A., Duloy, A., Hammad, H. T., & Shah, R. J. (2024). The Impact of Pancreatic Endotherapy on Quality of Life in Chronic Pancreatitis. In Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gie.2024.12.002