title: Treating acute pancreatitis: what's new?
abstract: The medical treatment of acute pancreatitis continues to focus on supportive care, including fluid therapy, nutrition, and antibiotics, all of which will be critically reviewed. Pharmacologic agents that were previously studied were found to be ineffective likely due to a combination of their targets and flaws in trial design. Potential future pharmacologic agents, particularly those that target intracellular calcium signaling, as well as considerations for trial design will be discussed. As the incidence of acute pancreatitis continues to increase, greater efforts will be needed to prevent hospitalization, readmission and excessive imaging in order to reduce overall healthcare costs. Primary prevention continues to focus on post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis and secondary prevention on cholecystectomy for biliary pancreatitis as well as alcohol and smoking abstinence.
authors.affiliation: Pancreatitis Center, Division of Gastroenterology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Vikesh K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Afghani
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de-Madaria
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D065096:Calcium Chelating Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002760:Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde / Q000009:adverse effects; D004032:Diet; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006801:Humans; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D011322:Primary Prevention; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055502:Secondary Prevention
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D065096:Calcium Chelating Agents; D011480:Protease Inhibitors
keywords: acute pancreatitis; clinical trials; drugs; medical therapy; primary prevention; resource utilization; secondary prevention