Lead study author Valerie M. Vaughn, MD, from the Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy, and colleagues conducted 11 randomized trials of eight peer-reviewed publications and three abstract-only presentations including 948 eligible patients.
Four trials included patients with predicted severe pancreatitis. Providers fed patients orally (four studies), nasogastrically (two studies), nasojejunal (four studies) and oral or nasalenterically (one study).
Here’s what they found.
1. Among patients with mild to moderate pancreatitis, early feeding reduced length of stay in four of seven studies.
2. No study showed an increase in adverse events associated with early feeding.
3. Severe pancreatitis patients revealed no statistically significant difference in outcomes.
Study limitations included the heterogeneity of feeding protocols and outcomes and scant data.
Researchers concluded, “Limited data suggest that early feeding in patients with acute pancreatitis does not seem to increase adverse events and, for patients with mild to moderate pancreatitis, may reduce length of hospital stay.”
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