Selective indications of indomethacin and somatostatin, alone or in combination, and their preventive effects in patients at high risk for post-ERCP pancreatitis

Abstract

BACKGROUND Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a widely used minimally invasive technique for the diagnosis and treatment of biliary and pancreatic disorders. However, some patients may suffer post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). Somatostatin and indomethacin are the classical drugs for the prevention of PEP. There is still controversy over the use of somatostatin and indomethacin, alone or in combination, in this context. AIM To investigate the selective indications of indomethacin and somatostatin, alone or in combination, and their preventive effects in patients at high risk for PEP. METHODS A prospective analysis was performed on 729 patients at high risk for PEP at our hospital from January 2017 to December 2020. They were randomly divided into four groups according to factorial design: Placebo group, indomethacin group, somatostatin group, and indomethacin + somatostatin group. Hyperamylasemia, PEP, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-8 concentrations, and the incidence of side effects were compared among the four groups. RESULTS Compared with the placebo group, the incidence of PEP, hospitalization cost, and length of hospital stay showed no significant difference, but the incidence of hyperamylasemia, VAS score within 6 h after operation, and the TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations significantly decreased in the indomethacin group. Compared with the placebo group or indomethacin group, hospitalization cost, hospitalization time, the incidence of hyperamylasemia, the incidence of PEP, VAS score at 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h after operation, and the TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 concentrations after operation significantly decreased in the somatostatin group. Compared with the indomethacin + somatostatin group, the cost of hospitalization, length of hospitalization, incidence of hyperamylase blood, incidence of PEP, VAS score at 6 h, 12 h and 24 h after operation, and the TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations after operation significantly decreased in the indomethacin + somatostatin group. Compared with the somatostatin group, the incidence of PEP, hospitalization cost, and length of hospital stay in the indomethacin + somatostatin group showed no significant difference, but the incidence of hyperamylasemia, VAS score, and TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 concentrations within 6 h after operation significantly decreased. The VAS and TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 concentrations at 12 h to 24 h after operation showed no statistically significant differences. CONCLUSION For patients at high risk for PEP, indomethacin can reduce the incidence of postoperative hyperamylasemia and improve the quality of life of patients in a short period of time. It is suitable for patients undergoing simple, short-duration ERCP procedure with expected mild postoperative abdominal pain. Somatostatin can reduce the incidence of postoperative hyperamylasemia, improve the patients’ quality of life and the incidence of PEP over a long period of time, and reduce the cost of hospitalization. It is suitable for patients with complicated, long-duration ERCP operation with expected severe postoperative abdominal pain. The combination of indomethacin and somatostatin has a synergistic effect in reducing the incidence of hyperamylasemia and improving patients’ quality of life within 6 h after operation, and it is suitable for patients with more complicated, longer-duration ERCP operation with expected severe and longer postoperative abdominal pain.