title: Clear liquid diet vs soft diet as the initial meal in patients with mild acute pancreatitis: a randomized interventional trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients recovering from mild acute pancreatitis are usually started on a liquid diet and advanced to a solid diet. Evidence suggests a soft diet as the initial meal is tolerated well by such patients. However, the results are controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the safety of starting an early soft diet compared with a liquid diet in patients with mild acute pancreatitis as the initial meal.
  
  
  METHODS
  We randomized 60 patients with mild acute pancreatitis into 2 groups to receive either a clear liquid diet (CLD) or a soft diet (SD) as the initial meal, and parameters such as tolerance to diet, recurrence of pain, length of hospitalization (LOH), need to stop feeding, post-refeeding length of hospitalization (PRLOH), and postdischarge readmission rate within 30 days were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The demographic and baseline parameters (amylase, total leucocyte count, Balthazar score) in the 2 groups were comparable. Patients in both groups tolerated the diet well except 1 patient in the SD group, who developed vomiting and diarrhea, not severe enough to stop feeding. LOH and PRLOH were significantly lower in the SD group (4.23 ± 2.08 and 1.96 ± 1.63 days, P < .0001) compared with the CLD group (6.91 ± 2.43 and 4.10 ± 1.64 days, P < .0001). PRLOH in the SD group was 2.14 days less when compared with the CLD group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with mild acute pancreatitis, a soft diet as the initial meal is well tolerated and leads to a shorter total length of hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: Nagarajan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rajkumar
authors.forename: Vilvapathy Senguttuvan
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Karthikeyan
authors.forename: Sheik Manwar
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Sarath Chandra
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sistla
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kate
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000681:Amylases / Q000097:blood; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000681:Amylases