Effects of immediate or early oral feeding on acute pancreatitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The timing of oral refeeding can affect length of stay (LOS) and recovery of acute pancreatitis (AP). However, the optimal timing for oral refeeding is still controversial for AP. This meta-analysis investigated the effects of immediate or early versus delayed oral feeding on mild and moderate AP, regardless of improvement in clinical signs or laboratory indicators.

This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) based on data from Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of science, and CBM before August 2021. Two researchers independently used Stata16 to extract and analyse study data. Random effect model was performed for meta-analysis to calculate the risk ratio (RR) and standardized mean difference (SMD).

8 RCTs were selected, including 748 patients with mild to moderate AP. Patients in IOR (Immediate or early Oral Refeeding) group had less costs [SMD -0.83, 95%CI (-1.17, -0.5), P < 0.001] and shorter LOS [SMD -1.01, 95%CI (-1.17, -0.85), P < 0.001] than the DOR (Delayed Oral Refeeding) group patients. However, there was no difference in mortality [RR 0.54, 95%CI (0.11, 2.62), P = 0.44], pain relapse rate [RR 0.58, 95%CI (0.25, 1.35), P = 0.27], feeding intolerance rate [RR 0.61, 95%CI (0.28, 1.3), P = 0.2], AP progression rate [RR 0.21, 95%CI (0.04, 1.07), P = 0.06] and overall complications rate [RR 0.41, 95%CI (0.17, 1.01), P = 0.05] between the IOR and DOR groups.

Limited data suggest that IOR could reduce LOS and costs without increasing adverse events in mild to moderate AP.