Published online Aug 14, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i30.4892
Revised: November 29, 2005
Accepted: January 14, 2006
Published online: August 14, 2006
AIM: To evaluate whether multiple determinations of intramucosal pH (pHi) in acute pancreatitis (AP) patients could provide additional information of the disease severity during early hospitalization.
METHODS: Twenty-one patients suffering from acute pancreatitis were monitored by gastric tonometry in the first 72 h after hospital admission.
RESULTS: In the survivor group (n = 15) the initially low pHi values returned to normal level (pHi ≥ 7.32) within 48 h (median pHi: d 1: 7.21; d 2: 7.32; d 3: 7.33). In contrast, pHi values in the non-survivor group n = 6) were persistently either below or in the low normal range (median pHi 7.12; 7.12; 7.07 respectively), but pHi differences between the two groups reached significance only after 24 h (P < 0.01). Mucosal acidosis detected at any time during the monitored period was associated with the emergence of single or multiple organ dysfunction (P < 0.01).
CONCLUSION: Prolonged gastric mucosal acidosis was associated with remote organ dysfunction and failure in Acute Pancreatitis, however, correlation with the fatal outcome became significant only 24 h after admission. Due to its non-invasive nature gastric tonometry may supplement the pro-inflammatory markers to achieve a multi-faceted monitoring of the disease.