Effect of pancreatic endotherapy on quality of life in chronic pancreatitis patients: A systematic review

The impact of pancreatic endotherapy on quality of life in chronic pancreatitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Pancreatic endotherapy (PET) offers a treatment option for adverse events of chronic pancreatitis (CP) such as pancreatic duct (PD) strictures, stones, and pseudocysts. Previous studies have primarily focused on how PET affects pain, so the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of PET on quality of life.

METHODS

This single-center prospective study assessed quality of life before the initiation of endotherapy using a validated CP-specific quality of life instrument. Quality of life, pain levels, and opiate use were also measured at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months' follow-up. PET modalities included therapeutic PD stent placement, PD stone lithotripsy, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided pseudocyst drainage, and celiac plexus block (EUS-CPB). A repeated-measures mixed effects model was used to compare pre- and post-PET changes in quality of life at each follow-up point.

RESULTS

A total of 120 subjects with CP (mean age 52.3 years, 58.3% female) were included in this study. PET modalities consisted primarily of therapeutic PD stenting (49.2%), EUS-CPB (32.5%), and PD stone lithotripsy (16.7%). Significant improvements in quality of life scores were seen at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after PET completion, with the greatest improvement seen at 6 months (mean increase of 15.5 points). Significant improvements in pain levels were seen at 1 and 6 months, but not at 12 months. Decrease in opiate use was seen at all follow-up points.

CONCLUSIONS

PET is associated with improvement in quality of life up to 1 year after treatment, but pain improvement was seen only to 6 months, reflecting the complexity of pain management in this difficult patient population. Further studies are needed to predict responders to endotherapy.

Quality of life after endoscopic procedures for chronic pancreatitis: A multicentre study

BACKGROUND

Chronic Pancreatitis (CP) causes morphological changes in the pancreatic tissue, leading to complications and pain, which may require endoscopic interventions.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to determine the frequency of endoscopic procedures (EP) in CP patients and to analyse pain and quality of life (QoL) in these patients after their EP.

METHODS

This study included 1327 CP patients from the Scandinavian Baltic Pancreatic Club (SBPC) database including four countries and eight centres. We analysed patients undergoing EPs and gathered information on the EP, pancreatic function, pain, disease and duration. The EORTC C-30 QoL questionnaire was gathered prospectively and multivariable analysis was conducted on independent parameters between the groups. The reference population had no interventions (n = 870).

RESULTS

260 CP patients (22%) underwent EPs, median one year (range 0-39 years) after CP diagnosis. 68% were males. The median age was 59 (20-90) years. Most common aetiological factors were alcohol in 65% and smoking in 71%. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was used in 6% of the CP population and in 21% of the EP group. Biliary duct stenting was performed on 37% and pancreatic stenting was performed on 56% of the patients. There was no difference in pain patterns between patients who had pancreatic stenting and the reference population. The EP group had slightly better QoL (p = 0.047), functioning and fewer symptoms than the reference population, in the multivariable analysis there was no interaction effect analysis between the groups. The pancreatic stent group had better QoL and the same amount of pain than the reference group. The patients who needed later surgery (23%) had more pain (p = 0.043) and fatigue (p = 0.021).

CONCLUSIONS

One in five of the CP patients underwent EP. These patients scored higher on QoL responses and had better symptom scores. CP patients who had pancreatic stenting performed had the same pain patterns as the reference population. Randomised prospective trials are needed to determine the effect of endoscopy procedures on CP patients.