Immediate oral refeeding found safe in patients with acute pancreatitis, Study reveals

Written By : Dr. Nandita Mohan |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2021-07-26T09:00:52+05:30 | Updated On 26 July 2021 11:09 AM IST

Oral diet is essential in mild and moderate AP. The greatest benefits are obtained if refeeding starts early; however, the definition of "early" remains controversial.

Immediate oral refeeding (IORF) is observed to be safe and a feasible option in patients suffering from mild and moderate acute pancreatitis (AP), finds a study. Furthermore, the authors from the General and Digestive Surgery Department, Consorci Sanitari Garraf, Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, Spain highlighted that this treatment modality resulted in significantly shorter hospital length-of-stay (LOS).

The study is published in the Annals of Surgery.

Ramírez-Maldonado Elena and colleagues carried out the study to establish the optimal time to start oral refeeding in mild and moderate acute pancreatitis (AP) to reduce hospital length-of-stay (LOS) and complications.

This multicenter, randomized, controlled trial included a total of one hundred and thirty one patients with a diagnosis of mild or moderate AP admitted consecutively to 4 hospitals. Patients were randomly categorized into 2 treatment groups-

a. immediate oral refeeding (IORF)

b. conventional oral refeeding (CORF).

The IORF group included those with a low-fat-solid diet initiated immediately after hospital admission and these patients were compared to the CORF group where the progressive oral diet was restarted when clinical and laboratory parameters had improved. The comparison was made in terms of LOS (primary endpoint), pain relapse, diet intolerance, complications, and, hospital costs.

The study revealed that the mean length of hospital stay for the IORF and CORF groups was 3.4 (SD ± 1.7) and 8.8 (SD ± 7.9) days, respectively. While, in the CORF group alone, pain relapse rate was 16%, there were fewer complications (8% vs 26%) and health costs were twice as low, with savings in the IORF than CORF group.

As a result, the authors concluded that "IORF is safe and feasible in mild and moderate AP, resulting in significantly shorter LOS and cost savings, without causing adverse effects or complications."

For further reference, log in to:

10.1097/SLA.0000000000004596

oral refeedingsafefeasiblepatientsacute pancreatitisAnnals of Surgery

Source : Annals of Surgery

Dr. Nandita Mohan

BDS, MDS( Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry)

Dr. Nandita Mohan is a practicing pediatric dentist with more than 5 years of clinical work experience. Along with this, she is equally interested in keeping herself up to date about the latest developments in the field of medicine and dentistry which is the driving force for her to be in association with Medical Dialogues. She also has her name attached with many publications; both national and international. She has pursued her BDS from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore and later went to enter her dream specialty (MDS) in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry from Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences. Through all the years of experience, her core interest in learning something new has never stopped. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751