[Intravenous glutamine and early nasojejunal nutrition in severe acute pancreatitis -- a prospective randomized clinical study]

Efficacy of Glutamine in Treating Severe Acute Pancreatitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives

The prognosis of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) patients is closely related to early nutritional support. It is well-established that changes in glutamine (Gln), an important amino acid and nutritional supplement, can reflect disease severity. However, no consensus has been reached on the role of Gln nutrition therapy for SAP patients. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize and evaluate the advantages of Gln supplementation in SAP.

Methods

PubMed, Web of Science, the Embase, Cochrane Library, and Chinese databases (CNKI, SinoMed, Wanfang, and VIP) were systematically searched for eligible studies that included glutamine supplementation in SAP patients from inception to October 31 2021, excluding non-SAP studies. Primary outcome measures included mortality, APACHE II score, complications, and length of hospital stay. The meta-analysis was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021288371) and was conducted using Review Manager and Stata softwares.

Results

This meta-analysis included 30 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a total of 1,201 patients. Six primary outcomes and six secondary outcomes were analyzed. For the primary outcomes, Gln supplementation was associated with lower mortality (OR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.21-0.69, P = 0.001), total hospital stay (MD = -3.41, 95% CI: -4.93 to -1.88, P < 0.0001) and complications (OR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.31-0.66, P < 0.0001) compared with conventional nutrition. Further subgroup analysis found that parenteral glutamine was more effective in reducing mortality. In terms of secondary outcomes, Gln supplementation helped restore liver, kidney and immune function, with significantly increased serum albumin (SMD = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.74-1.31, P < 0.00001) and IgG levels (MD = 1.24, 95% CI: 0.82-1.67, P < 0.00001), and decreased serum creatinine (Scr) (MD = -12.60, 95% CI: -21.97 to -3.24, P = 0.008), and inflammatory indicators such as C-reaction protein (CRP) (SMD = -1.67, 95% CI: -2.43 to -0.90, P < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Although Gln supplementation is not routinely recommended, it is beneficial for SAP patients. Indeed, glutamine nutrition has little effect on some indicator outcomes but contributes to improving the prognosis of this patient population.Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO (york.ac.uk). Unique Identifier: CRD42021288371.

Nutritional Management of Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) remains among the most common gastrointestinal disorders leading to hospital admission. Optimizing nutritional support and maintaining gut function is instrumental in recovery of patients with AP. Enteral nutrition remains one of the only interventions with demonstrated mortality benefit in AP largely through preservation of gut function, serving to preserve the gut barrier as means to mitigate immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation inherent to AP. Practice variation remains in timing, route, and composition of nutritional support. This review highlights contemporary evidence regarding optimal nutritional support in AP and provides recommendations for management in line with current consensus opinions.

Effect of postoperative early enteral nutrition on clinical outcomes and immune function of cholangiocarcinoma patients with malignant obstructive jaundice

BACKGROUND

Most cholangiocarcinoma patients with malignant obstructive jaundice (MOJ) have varying degrees of malnutrition and immunodeficiency preoperatively. Therefore, perioperative nutritional support has important clinical significance in the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma.

AIM

To investigate the effects of postoperative early enteral nutrition (EEN) on immunity function and clinical outcomes of cholangiocarcinoma patients with MOJ.

METHODS

This prospective clinical study included 60 cholangiocarcinoma patients with MOJ who underwent surgery. The patients were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group according to the nutrition support modes. The control group received postoperative total parenteral nutrition (TPN), whereas the experimental group received postoperative EEN and parenteral nutrition (PN; EEN + PN). The clinical outcomes, postoperative immune function, incidences of surgical site infection and bile leakage, intestinal function recovery time, average hospitalization days, and hospitalization expenses of the two groups were assessed on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, and 7.

RESULTS

The CD3+T, CD4+T, CD8+T, and CD4+T/CD8+T cell count and the immunoglobulin (Ig) G, IgM, and IgA levels in the EEN + PN group were significantly higher than those in the TPN group on PODs 3 and 7 (P < 0.05), whereas no significant differences in the CD3+T, CD4+T, CD8+T, and CD4+T/CD8+T cell counts and IgG, IgM, and IgA levels before operation and on POD 1 were found between the two groups (P > 0.05). The intestinal function recovery time and postoperative hospital stay were shorter (P < 0.001 for both) in the EEN + PN group than in the TPN group. The hospitalization expenses of the EEN + PN group were lower than those of the TPN group (P < 0.001). However, the incidence of abdominal distension was higher than in the EEN + PN group than in the TPN group (P < 0.05). The incidence rates of biliary leakage and surgical site infection were not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

A postoperative EEN program could reduce the incidence of postoperative complications and improve the clinical outcomes and immune functions of cholangiocarcinoma patients with MOJ and is thus beneficial to patient recovery.

Recent Advances on Nutrition in Treatment of Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common abdominal acute inflammatory disorder and the leading cause of hospital admission for gastrointestinal disorders in many countries. Clinical manifestations of AP vary from self-limiting local inflammation to devastating systemic pathological conditions causing significant morbidity and mortality. To date, despite extensive efforts in translating promising experimental therapeutic targets in clinical trials, disease-specific effective remedy remains obscure, and supportive care has still been the primary treatment for this disease. Emerging evidence, in light of the current state of pathophysiology of AP, has highlighted that strategic initiation of nutrition with appropriate nutrient supplementation are key to limit local inflammation and to prevent or manage AP-associated complications. The current review focuses on recent advances on nutritional interventions including enteral versus parenteral nutrition strategies, and nutritional supplements such as probiotics, glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins in clinical AP, hoping to advance current knowledge and practice related to nutrition and nutritional supplements in clinical management of AP.

Pharmacological interventions for acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND

In people with acute pancreatitis, it is unclear what the role should be for medical treatment as an addition to supportive care such as fluid and electrolyte balance and organ support in people with organ failure.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effects of different pharmacological interventions in people with acute pancreatitis.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, 2016, Issue 9), MEDLINE, Embase, Science Citation Index Expanded, and trial registers to October 2016 to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs). We also searched the references of included trials to identify further trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We considered only RCTs performed in people with acute pancreatitis, irrespective of aetiology, severity, presence of infection, language, blinding, or publication status for inclusion in the review.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently identified trials and extracted data. We did not perform a network meta-analysis as planned because of the lack of information on potential effect modifiers and differences of type of participants included in the different comparisons, when information was available. We calculated the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the binary outcomes and rate ratios with 95% CIs for count outcomes using a fixed-effect model and random-effects model.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 84 RCTs with 8234 participants in this review. Six trials (N = 658) did not report any of the outcomes of interest for this review. The remaining 78 trials excluded 210 participants after randomisation. Thus, a total of 7366 participants in 78 trials contributed to one or more outcomes for this review. The treatments assessed in these 78 trials included antibiotics, antioxidants, aprotinin, atropine, calcitonin, cimetidine, EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), gabexate, glucagon, iniprol, lexipafant, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), octreotide, oxyphenonium, probiotics, activated protein C, somatostatin, somatostatin plus omeprazole, somatostatin plus ulinastatin, thymosin, ulinastatin, and inactive control. Apart from the comparison of antibiotics versus control, which included a large proportion of participants with necrotising pancreatitis, the remaining comparisons had only a small proportion of patients with this condition. Most trials included either only participants with severe acute pancreatitis or included a mixture of participants with mild acute pancreatitis and severe acute pancreatitis (75 trials). Overall, the risk of bias in trials was unclear or high for all but one of the trials.

SOURCE OF FUNDING

seven trials were not funded or funded by agencies without vested interest in results. Pharmaceutical companies partially or fully funded 21 trials. The source of funding was not available from the remaining trials.Since we considered short-term mortality as the most important outcome, we presented only these results in detail in the abstract. Sixty-seven studies including 6638 participants reported short-term mortality. There was no evidence of any differences in short-term mortality in any of the comparisons (very low-quality evidence). With regards to other primary outcomes, serious adverse events (number) were lower than control in participants taking lexipafant (rate ratio 0.67, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.96; N = 290; 1 study; very low-quality evidence), octreotide (rate ratio 0.74, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.89; N = 770; 5 studies; very low-quality evidence), somatostatin plus omeprazole (rate ratio 0.36, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.70; N = 140; 1 study; low-quality evidence), and somatostatin plus ulinastatin (rate ratio 0.30, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.60; N = 122; 1 study; low-quality evidence). The proportion of people with organ failure was lower in octreotide than control (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.97; N = 430; 3 studies; very low-quality evidence). The proportion of people with sepsis was lower in lexipafant than control (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.83; N = 290; 1 study; very low-quality evidence). There was no evidence of differences in any of the remaining comparisons in these outcomes or for any of the remaining primary outcomes (the proportion of participants experiencing at least one serious adverse event and the occurrence of infected pancreatic necrosis). None of the trials reported heath-related quality of life.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Very low-quality evidence suggests that none of the pharmacological treatments studied decrease short-term mortality in people with acute pancreatitis. However, the confidence intervals were wide and consistent with an increase or decrease in short-term mortality due to the interventions. We did not find consistent clinical benefits with any intervention. Because of the limitations in the prognostic scoring systems and because damage to organs may occur in acute pancreatitis before they are clinically manifest, future trials should consider including pancreatitis of all severity but power the study to measure the differences in the subgroup of people with severe acute pancreatitis. It may be difficult to power the studies based on mortality. Future trials in participants with acute pancreatitis should consider other outcomes such as complications or health-related quality of life as primary outcomes. Such trials should include health-related quality of life, costs, and return to work as outcomes and should follow patients for at least three months (preferably for at least one year).

Is there a role for glutamine supplementation in the management of acute pancreatitis?

There is no consensus about the effects of glutamine supplementation for acute pancreatitis. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening 30 databases, we identified 15 systematic reviews including 31 randomized controlled trials addressing the question of this article. We combined the evidence using meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings following the GRADE approach. We concluded glutamine supplementation might decrease infectious complications in acute pancreatitis, but it is not clear if it affects mortality or length of hospital stay because the certainty of the evidence is very low.

Glutamine Supplementation in Intensive Care Patients: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

The role of glutamine (GLN) supplementation in critically ill patients is controversial. Our aim was to analyze its potential effect in patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU).We performed a systematic literature review through Medline, Embase, Pubmed, Scopus, Ovid, ISI Web of Science, and the Cochrane-Controlled Trials Register searching for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) published from 1983 to 2014 and comparing GLN supplementation to no supplementation in patients admitted to ICU. A random-effect meta-analysis for each outcome (hospital and ICU mortality and rate of infections) of interest was carried out. The effect size was estimated by the risk ratio (RR).Thirty RCTs were analyzed with a total of 3696 patients, 1825 (49.4%) receiving GLN and 1859 (50.6%) no GLN (control groups). Hospital mortality rate was 27.6% in the GLN patients and 28.6% in controls with an RR of 0.93 (95% CI = 0.81-1.07; P = 0.325, I = 10.7%). ICU mortality was 18.0 % in the patients receiving GLN and 17.6% in controls with an RR of 1.01 (95% CI = 0.86-1.19; P = 0.932, I = 0%). The incidence of infections was 39.7% in GLN group versus 41.7% in controls. The effect of GLN was not significant (RR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.76-1.03; P = 0.108, I = 56.1%).These results do not allow to recommend GLN supplementation in a generic population of critically ills. Further RCTs are needed to explore the effect of GLN in more specific cohort of patients.

Efficacy of Glutamine-Enriched Nutrition Support for Patients With Severe Acute Pancreatitis: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Plasma glutamine (Gln) level has been negatively correlated with the severity of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Although Gln is widely used today, the results of individual randomized controlled trials of Gln-enriched nutrition support for patients with SAP are conflicting.

METHODS

PubMed, EMBASE, HighWire, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Wanfang, China Journals Full-Text Database, and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were searched. Literature published before June 2014 was searched. Randomized controlled trials investigating the comparison of conventional and Gln-enriched nutrition support were included; a random effect model using Rev Man 5.2 software was chosen to complete this meta-analysis. The count data were analyzed using the risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), and the measurement data were analyzed using the standard mean difference or weighted mean difference and 95% CI. Heterogeneity analyses were conducted by I(2) test; publication bias analyses were conducted by Begg test.

RESULTS

Ten studies were eventually chosen for analysis, including 218 patients who received conventional methods (control group) and 215 patients who received Gln-enriched nutrition support (experimental group). Compared with the control group, Gln is helpful in elevating the albumin level, decreasing C-reaction protein (standard mean difference = 1.01, -1.89; 95% CI: 0.50 to 1.51, -3.23 to -0.56; P < .05), decreasing the incidence of infectious complication and mortality (RR = 0.62, 0.36; 95% CI: 0.46 to 0.83, 0.16 to 0.83; P < .05), and shortening the hospital stay length (weighted mean difference [WMD] = -3.89; 95% CI: -4.98 to -2.81; P < .05) without increasing expenses (WMD = -0.16; 95% CI: -1.34 to 1.02; P > .05). Intravenous infusion manifested more advantages by decreasing the incidence of infectious complications and mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Gln-enriched nutrition support is superior to conventional methods for SAP, and intravenous infusion may be a better choice for drug administration.

Enteral nutrition in acute pancreatitis: A review of the current evidence

The use of enteral feeding as part of the management of acute pancreatitis dates back almost two decades. This review describes the indications for and limitations of enteral feeding for the treatment of acute pancreatitis using up-to-date evidence-based data. A systematic review was carried out to analyse current data on the use of enteral nutrition in the management of acute pancreatitis. Relevant literature was analysed from the viewpoints of enteral vs parenteral feeding, early vs delayed enteral nutrition, nasogastric vs nasojejunal feeding, and early oral diet and immunonutrition, particularly glutamine and probiotic supplementation. Finally, current applicable guidelines and the effects of these guidelines on clinical practice are discussed. The latest meta-analyses suggest that enteral nutrition significantly reduces the mortality rate of severe acute pancreatitis compared to parenteral feeding. To maintain gut barrier function and prevent early bacterial translocation, enteral feeding should be commenced within the first 24 h of hospital admission. Also, the safety of nasogastric feeding, which eases the administration of enteral nutrients in the clinical setting, is likely equal to nasojejunal feeding. Furthermore, an early low-fat oral diet is potentially beneficial in patients with mild pancreatitis. Despite the initial encouraging results, the current evidence does not support the use of immunoenhanced nutrients or probiotics in patients with acute pancreatitis.

Glutamine supplementation for critically ill adults

BACKGROUND

Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid which is abundant in the healthy human body. There are studies reporting that plasma glutamine levels are reduced in patients with critical illness or following major surgery, suggesting that glutamine may be a conditionally essential amino acid in situations of extreme stress. In the past decade, several clinical trials examining the effects of glutamine supplementation in patients with critical illness or receiving surgery have been done, and the systematic review of this clinical evidence has suggested that glutamine supplementation may reduce infection and mortality rates in patients with critical illness. However, two recent large-scale randomized clinical trials did not find any beneficial effects of glutamine supplementation in patients with critical illness.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this review was to:1. assess the effects of glutamine supplementation in critically ill adults and in adults after major surgery on infection rate, mortality and other clinically relevant outcomes;2. investigate potential heterogeneity across different patient groups and different routes for providing nutrition.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Anaesthesia Review Group (CARG) Specialized Register; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library (2013, Issue 5); MEDLINE (1950 to May 2013); EMBASE (1980 to May 2013) and Web of Science (1945 to May 2013).

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included controlled clinical trials with random or quasi-random allocation that examined glutamine supplementation versus no supplementation or placebo in adults with a critical illness or undergoing elective major surgery. We excluded cross-over trials.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two authors independently extracted the relevant information from each included study using a standardized data extraction form. For infectious complications and mortality and morbidity outcomes we used risk ratio (RR) as the summary measure with the 95% confidence interval (CI). We calculated, where appropriate, the number needed to treat to benefit (NNTB) and the number needed to treat to harm (NNTH). We presented continuous data as the difference between means (MD) with the 95% CI.

MAIN RESULTS

Our search identified 1999 titles, of which 53 trials (57 articles) fulfilled our inclusion criteria. The 53 included studies enrolled a total of 4671 participants with critical illness or undergoing elective major surgery. We analysed seven domains of potential risk of bias. In 10 studies the risk of bias was evaluated as low in all of the domains. Thirty-three trials (2303 patients) provided data on nosocomial infectious complications; pooling of these data suggested that glutamine supplementation reduced the infectious complications rate in adults with critical illness or undergoing elective major surgery (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.87, P ＜ 0.00001, I² = 8%, moderate quality evidence). Thirty-six studies reported short-term (hospital or less than one month) mortality. The combined rate of mortality from these studies was not statistically different between the groups receiving glutamine supplement and those receiving no supplement (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.02, P = 0.10, I² = 22%, low quality evidence). Eleven studies reported long-term (more than six months) mortality; meta-analysis of these studies (2277 participants) yielded a RR of 1.00 (95% CI 0.89 to 1.12, P = 0.94, I² = 30%, moderate quality evidence). Subgroup analysis of infectious complications and mortality outcomes did not find any statistically significant differences between the predefined groups. Hospital length of stay was reported in 36 studies. We found that the length of hospital stay was shorter in the intervention group than in the control group (MD -3.46 days, 95% CI -4.61 to -2.32, P < 0.0001, I² = 63%, low quality evidence). Slightly prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) stay was found in the glutamine supplemented group from 22 studies (2285 participants) (MD 0.18 days, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.29, P = 0.002, I² = 11%, moderate quality evidence). Days on mechanical ventilation (14 studies, 1297 participants) was found to be slightly shorter in the intervention group than in the control group (MD - 0.69 days, 95% CI -1.37 to -0.02, P = 0.04, I² = 18%, moderate quality evidence). There was no clear evidence of a difference between the groups for side effects and quality of life, however results were imprecise for serious adverse events and few studies reported on quality of life. Sensitivity analysis including only low risk of bias studies found that glutamine supplementation had beneficial effects in reducing the length of hospital stay (MD -2.9 days, 95% CI -5.3 to -0.5, P = 0.02, I² = 58%, eight studies) while there was no statistically significant difference between the groups for all of the other outcomes.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

This review found moderate evidence that glutamine supplementation reduced the infection rate and days on mechanical ventilation, and low quality evidence that glutamine supplementation reduced length of hospital stay in critically ill or surgical patients. It seems to have little or no effect on the risk of mortality and length of ICU stay, however. The effects on the risk of serious side effects were imprecise. The strength of evidence in this review was impaired by a high risk of overall bias, suspected publication bias, and moderate to substantial heterogeneity within the included studies.

Effects of glutamine alone on the acute necrotizing pancreatitis in rats

BACKGROUND

The effects of the glutamine on the acute pancreatitis are controversial in the clinical and experimental studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of glutamine alone on acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) induced by glycodeoxycholic acid in rats.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Fifty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 300-350 g were used. Rats were divided into four groups as sham + saline, sham + glutamine, ANP + saline and ANP + glutamine. ANP in rats was induced by glycodeoxycholic acid. The extent of acinar cell injury, mortality, systemic cardiorespiratory variables, functional capillary density, renal/hepatic functions, and changes in some enzyme markers for pancreatic and lung tissue were investigated during ANP in rats.

RESULTS

The induction of ANP resulted in a significant increase in the mortality rate, pancreatic necrosis, and serum activity of amylase, alanine aminotransferase, interleukin-6, lactate dehydrogenase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, serum concentration of urea, and tissue activity of myeloperoxidase and malondialdehyde in the pancreas and lung, and a significant decrease in concentrations of calcium, blood pressure, urine output, pO2, and functional capillary density. The use of glutamine alone improved these changes.

CONCLUSIONS

Glutamine demonstrated beneficial effect on the course of ANP in rats. Therefore, it may be used by itself in the treatment of acute pancreatitis.

Glutamine supplementation in acute pancreatitis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

There is emerging evidence that glutamine supplementation should be considered in patients with acute and critical illness associated with a catabolic response. There are reports of glutamine supplementation in acute pancreatitis but the results of these studies are conflicting. The aim of this study was to systematically review the randomised controlled trials (RCT) of glutamine in patients with acute pancreatitis.

METHODS

The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS and 3 major Chinese databases were searched. The outcomes studied were mortality, total infectious complications, and length of hospital stay. A random effects model was used for meta-analysis of the outcomes in the included trials. A number of pre-specified subgroup analyses were also conducted. The summary estimates were reported as risk ratio (RR) for categorical variables and mean difference (MD) for continuous variables together with the corresponding 95% confidence interval.

RESULTS

Twelve RCT that enrolled 505 patients with acute pancreatitis were included in the final analysis. Overall, glutamine supplementation resulted in a significantly reduced risk of mortality (RR 0.30; 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.60; P < 0.001) and total infectious complications (RR 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.87; P = 0.009) but not length of hospital stay (MD -1.35; 95% CI, -3.25 to 0.56, P = 0.17). In the subgroup analyses, only patients who received parenteral nutrition and those who received glutamine in combination with other immunonutrients demonstrated a statistically significant benefit in terms of all the studied outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis demonstrates a clear advantage for glutamine supplementation in patients with acute pancreatitis who receive total parenteral nutrition. Patients with acute pancreatitis who receive enteral nutrition do not require glutamine supplementation. Further studies are warranted to determine whether patients who receive combined enteral and parenteral nutrition need glutamine supplementation.

Enteral nutrition within 48 hours of admission improves clinical outcomes of acute pancreatitis by reducing complications: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Enteral nutrition is increasingly advocated in the treatment of acute pancreatitis, but its timing is still controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to find out the feasibility of early enteral nutrition within 48 hours of admission and its possible advantages.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

We searched PubMed, EMBASE Databases, Web of Science, the Cochrane library, and scholar.google.com for all the relevant articles about the effect of enteral nutrition initiated within 48 hours of admission on the clinical outcomes of acute pancreatitis from inception to December 2012. Eleven studies containing 775 patients with acute pancreatitis were analyzed. Results from a pooled analysis of all the studies demonstrated that early enteral nutrition was associated with significant reductions in all the infections as a whole (OR 0.38; 95%CI 0.21-0.68, P<0.05), in catheter-related septic complications (OR 0.26; 95%CI 0.11-0.58, P<0.05), in pancreatic infection (OR 0.49; 95%CI 0.31-0.78, P<0.05), in hyperglycemia (OR 0.24; 95%CI 0.11-0.52, P<0.05), in the length of hospitalization (mean difference -2.18; 95%CI -3.48-(-0.87); P<0.05), and in mortality (OR 0.31; 95%CI 0.14-0.71, P<0.05), but no difference was found in pulmonary complications (P>0.05). The stratified analysis based on the severity of disease revealed that, even in predicted severe or severe acute pancreatitis patients, early enteral nutrition still showed a protective power against all the infection complications as a whole, catheter-related septic complications, pancreatic infection complications, and organ failure that was only reported in the severe attack of the disease (all P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Enteral nutrition within 48 hours of admission is feasible and improves the clinical outcomes in acute pancreatitis as well as in predicted severe or severe acute pancreatitis by reducing complications.

Intravenous glutamine for severe acute pancreatitis: A meta-analysis

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of intravenous glutamine on the patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).

METHODS: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and EBM review databases were searched up to June 2012. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared non-glutamine nutrition with intravenous glutamine supplemented nutrition in patients with SAP were included. A method recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration was used to perform a meta-analysis of those RCTs.

RESULTS: Four RCTs involving a total of 190 participants were included. Analysis of these RCTs revealed the presence of statistical homogeneity among them. Results showed that glutamine dipeptide has a positive effect in reducing the mortality rate (OR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.09-0.73, P = 0.01), length of hospital stay (weighted mean difference = -4.85, 95%CI: 6.67--3.03, P < 0.001), and the rate of complications (OR = 0.41, 95%CI: 0.22-0.78, P = 0.006). No serious adverse effects were found.

CONCLUSION: Current best evidence demonstrates that glutamine is effective for SAP. Further high quality trials are required and parameters of nutritional condition and hospital cost should be considered in future RCTs with sufficient size and rigorous design.