2012 Volume 27 Issue 4 Pages 593-600
The significance of endoscopic treatment in improvement of nutritional status in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) was investigated. The nutritional status during endoscopic stenting of 19 patients with CP, who required continual pancreatic drainage by the stenting for more than 12 months, were examined retrospectively by BMI, serum albumin levels, total lymphocyte count, Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), and total cholesterol levels. Nutritional status significantly improved in 12 patients after the stent treatment, whereas the status did not improve in 7 patients who had suffered from acute relapse of CP after the stenting. Significant improvement of serum albumin levels, total lymphocyte count, and PNI was found at 1-3 months while that of BMI was achieved at 7-9 months after the stenting. In short, nutritional improvement was achieved within 10 months after the beginning of the endoscopic treatment only in patients that did not suffer a symptomatic attack. From a nutritional improvement standpoint, short period endoscopic treatment preceding surgery is a valuable strategy for the treatment of CP which may in turn reduce the risk of surgical complications.
