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DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1077362
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York
Intravenous nitroglycerin for prevention of pancreatitis after therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiography: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial
Publication History
submitted 26 July 2007
accepted after revision 14 April 2008
Publication Date:
04 August 2008 (online)
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/endoscopy/200808/lookinside/thumbnails/10.1055-s-2008-1077362-1.jpg)
Background and study aims: Several studies have suggested that nitroglycerin promotes pancreatic drainage and thereby helps to prevent pancreatitis occurring after endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC). We performed a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous nitroglycerin for preventing acute pancreatitis in moderate- to high-risk patients undergoing ERC.
Patients and methods: The patients underwent therapeutic ERC for gallstone removal, bile duct stenosis, or sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD). They were randomly allocated to receive an intravenous nitroglycerin bolus of 0.1 mg, then 35 µg/kg per minute intravenously (maximum dose 9 mg) for 6 h, or an identical placebo regimen. Serum amylase and lipase levels were determined before and 24 h after ERC.
Results: The study was terminated after the interim analysis. The intention-to-treat population consisted of 208 patients enrolled in 20 centers, of whom 105 received nitroglycerin and 103 placebo therapy. Post-ERC pancreatitis (mild/moderate/severe) occurred in 25 patients, comprising 10 (3/5/2) in the nitroglycerin arm and 15 (5/6/4) in the placebo arm (OR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.26 – 1.45; P = 0.26). Pancreatitis-related hospital stays were similar in the two groups (median 4 days, range 2 – 13 days in the nitroglycerin group; median 5 days, range 2 – 20 days in the placebo group). The incidence of pancreatitis in patients with SOD did not differ between the groups (4/11 in the nitroglycerin arm, and 4/15 in the placebo arm). Adverse events were more frequent in the nitroglycerin group and led to cessation of drug infusion in 10 patients in the nitroglycerin arm and in 2 patients in the placebo arm (P = 0.019).
Conclusion: In this study, nitroglycerin offered a limited and clinically nonsignificant benefit for the prevention of post-ERC pancreatitis. Its use did not improve the technical success rate of ERC.
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M. Beauchant, MD
Gastroenterology Unit
University Hospital
CHU, Poitiers
BP 577
86021 France
Fax: +33-5-49443835
Email: m.beauchant@chu-poitiers.fr