Systematic Review of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency after Gastrectomy for Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Survival rates after a total gastrectomy with adequate lymphadenectomy are improving, leading to a shift in outcomes of interest from survival to postoperative outcomes and symptoms. In this systematic review, we investigate gastrointestinal symptoms that occur after a gastrectomy in relation to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and the effect of pancreatic exocrine enzyme supplementation on these symptoms. METHODS: Online databases PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were systematically searched in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Studies that researched gastrointestinal symptoms, exocrine pancreatic function, and enzyme supplementation were identified and assessed. RESULTS: The search resulted in a total of 1,023 articles after exclusion of duplicates. After performing a thorough assessment, 4 studies were included for systematic review. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency was investigated by 2 studies; the results showed a significant decrease of total exocrine pancreatic function of up to 76%. The other 2 studies investigated the effect of pancreatic enzyme supplementation and found minor improvement in fecal consistency and a decrease in high-degree steatorrhea. No differences in individual symptom scores were reported. CONCLUSION: Gastrointestinal symptoms such as steatorrhea, bloating, and dumping syndrome may be related to exocrine pancreatic function, initiated by total gastrectomy. Treatment with pancreatic enzymes had a minor positive effect on patients. It should be noted that these studies were of a small sample size and low quality. New and larger RCTs are necessary to either prove or disprove the benefit of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in the treatment of the gastrointestinal symptoms after total gastrectomy.

Systematic review: the management of chronic diarrhoea due to bile acid malabsorption.

BACKGROUND: Bile acid malabsorption (BAM) is a common, yet under-recognised, cause of chronic diarrhoea, with limited guidance available on the appropriate management of patients with BAM. AIM: To summarise the evidence supporting different treatments available for patients with bile acid malabsorption, noting their impact on clinical outcomes, tolerability and associated side effects. METHODS: A literature search was conducted through PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Scopus. Relevant articles studied patients who had been diagnosed with BAM and were clinically assessed before and after therapy. RESULTS: A total of 30 relevant publications (1241 adult patients) were identified, which investigated the clinical response to drugs, including colestyramine, colestipol, colesevelam, aluminium hydroxide and obeticholic acid. The most commonly used diagnostic test of bile acid malabsorption was the SeHCAT test (24 studies). Colestyramine treatment was by far the most studied of these agents, and was successful in 70% of 801 patients (range: 63-100%). CONCLUSIONS: Colestyramine and colestipol are generally effective treatments of gastrointestinal symptoms from BAM, but may be poorly tolerated and reduce the bioavailability of co-administered agents. Alternative therapies (including colesevelam and aluminium hydroxide) as well as dietary intervention may also have a role, and the promising results of the first proof-of-concept study of obeticholic acid suggest that its novel approach may have an exciting future in the treatment of this condition. Future trials should employ accurate diagnostic testing and be conducted over longer periods so that the long-term benefits and tolerability of these different approaches can be evaluated.

Unresponsive or non-compliant steatorrhea in cystic fibrosis?

In 105 pancreatic insufficient CF patients (steatorrhea and low fecal elastase-1 concentrations), the effectiveness of pancreatic enzyme therapy (PET) has been assessed (fecal fat losses and coefficient of fat reabsorption). Eight unresponsive subjects were checked for PET compliance with fecal chymotrypsin assay. Three patients were documented to be non-compliant. Unresponsive patients should undergo evaluation for PET compliance.

Omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor, improves residual steatorrhoea in cystic fibrosis patients treated with high dose pancreatic enzymes.

UNLABELLED: Despite treatment with supra-physiological doses of pancreatic enzyme supplements, residual steatorrhoea is a common problem in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and pancreatic insufficiency. Strategies to enhance the activity of pancreatic enzymes include decreasing duodenal acidity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of omeprazole (Losec), a proton-pump inhibitor, on fat absorption in CF patients with residual steatorrhoea despite high dose pancreatic enzyme supplements (> or =10,000 U lipase/kg per day). A random cross-over design was chosen. Fat digestion was evaluated with and without omeprazole by means of chemical fat measurements in 3-day stool collections together with 3-day weighed food records for calculation of fat absorption. The results of 15 patients (3 girls and 12 boys) with confirmed steatorrhoea during the control evaluation were analysed. Median age was 8.7 years (range 3.5-15.9 years). Median daily lipase intake was 13,500 U/kg per day (range 10,000-22,000 U/kg per day). During treatment with omeprazole, median faecal fat loss (g fat/day) decreased from 13 g (quartiles 11.5-16.5 g/day) to 5.5 g (quartiles 4.9-8.1 g/day) (P<0.01). The same improvement was noted when fat absorption was calculated: 87% (quartiles 81-89%) without versus 94% (quartiles 90-96%) with omeprazole (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Omeprazole improves fat digestion and absorption in cystic fibrosis patients with residual faecal fat loss despite maximal pancreatic enzyme substitution.