title: Dexamethasone and dextran 40 treatment of 32 patients with severe acute pancreatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Based on the pathogenesis of severe acute pancreatitis and our experimental studies, to investigate the effect of dexamethasone and dextran in treatment of patients with severe acute pancreatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two patients with severe acute pancreatitis were treated with 0.5-1 mg/kg per day dexamethasone for 3-5 d, and 500-1,000 mL/d of dextran 40 for 7 d, besides the routine therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 4-8 h of treatment, abdominal pain began to be relieved; range of tenderness began to be localized in 27 patients. They were cured with nonsurgical treatment. Five of them were deteriorated, and treated with surgery. Four patients in this group died.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dexamethasone and dextran 40 block the pathologic process of severe acute pancreatitis through inhibition of inflammatory mediators and improvement of microcirculation disorders respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, First Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi Province, China. ziw3@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Zi-Fa
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ying-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Qing-Guang
authors.initials: QG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Cheng-En
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003911:Dextrans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019283:Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D003911:Dextrans; D003907:Dexamethasone