Kitchen-based diet versus commercial polymeric formulation in acute pancreatitis: a pilot randomized comparative...

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology and Hepatology
• Clinical Nutrition
• Critical Care Medicine

Background:

• Enteral nutrition (EN) is vital for managing acute pancreatitis (AP), reducing severity and infectious complications.
• Commercially available EN formulations are often costly, posing accessibility challenges, particularly in developing nations.
• Exploring cost-effective alternatives like kitchen-based diets is essential for AP management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy and safety of a kitchen-based diet versus a commercial polymeric formulation for early enteral nutrition in AP patients.
• To evaluate outcomes within 14 days of pain onset, including pain, tolerability, complications, and biochemical markers.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 60 patients with moderately severe to severe AP.
• Participants were allocated to receive either a kitchen-based diet or a commercial polymeric formulation.
• Key outcome measures included refeeding pain, tolerability, infectious complications, mortality, hospital/ICU stay, and changes in CRP, transferrin, and prealbumin levels.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed between the groups in refeeding pain, tolerability, infectious complications, or mortality.
• Hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stay durations were comparable between the kitchen-based diet and commercial formulation groups.
• Changes in serum C-reactive protein (CRP), transferrin, and prealbumin levels did not significantly differ between the two feeding strategies.

Conclusions:

• Kitchen-based diets are a viable and comparable alternative to commercial polymeric formulations for initiating early enteral nutrition in AP patients.
• This approach offers a potentially more accessible and cost-effective nutritional strategy for managing acute pancreatitis.