[24-hour duodenal pH-recording in chronic pancreatitis]

Decreased pancreatic bicarbonate secretion may be responsible for the low duodenal pH in chronic pancreatitis as compared to the normal. We have therefore performed a 24-hour continuous duodenal pH recording in 7 patients with chronic pancreatitis and in 7 controls. The comparison of results, expressed as the percent of the time with pH under 3, 4, 5 or 6, shows that in chronic pancreatitis, the duodenal pH was significantly lower than in normal subjects, particularly during the postprandial periods. The lower pH found in pancreatitis, causing an impairement of the catalytic activity of endogenous or exogenous pancreatic enzymes could both contribute to malabsorption and decrease the efficacy of substitutive pancreatic extracts.