Intravenous synthetic secretin reduces the incidence of pancreatitis induced by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate whether synthetic secretin is effective in reducing post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis. METHODS: This is a single academic medical center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial using secretin (dose of 16 µg) administered intravenously immediately before ERCP. Patients were evaluated for the primary outcome of post-ERCP pancreatitis as diagnosed by a single investigator. RESULTS: A total of 1100 patients were screened, of whom 869 were randomly assigned to receive secretin (n = 426) or placebo (n = 443) before ERCP and were evaluated after the procedure for efficacy of secretin. The incidence of pancreatitis in the secretin group compared with the placebo group was 36 (8.7%) of 413 patients versus 65 (15.1%) of 431 patients, respectively, P = 0.004. In the subgroup analysis, secretin was highly protective against post-ERCP pancreatitis for patients undergoing biliary sphincterotomy (6/129 vs 32/142, P < 0.001), patients undergoing cannulation of the common bile duct (26/339 vs 56/342, P < 0.001), and patients not undergoing pancreatic sphincterotomy (26/388 vs 57/403, P = 0.001). Analysis of the interaction between these groups reveals that the primary effect of secretin prophylaxis was prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis in patients undergoing biliary sphincterotomy. CONCLUSIONS: Synthetic secretin reduces the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis, particularly in patients in undergoing biliary sphincterotomy.

Comparison of the efficacy and safety of a highly purified human follicle-stimulating hormone (Bravelle) and recombinant follitropin-beta for in vitro fertilization: a prospective, randomized study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of Bravelle s.c., Bravelle i.m., and Follistim s.c. in patients undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation for IVF-ET. DESIGN: Open-label, randomized, parallel group, multicenter study. SETTING: Eleven academic and private fertility clinics with experience in IVF-ET. PATIENT(S): Infertile premenopausal women with regular ovulatory menstrual cycles undergoing IVF-ET. INTERVENTION(S): Down-regulation with leuprolide acetate followed by up to 12 days of Bravelle s.c. (n = 60), Bravelle i.m. (n = 59), or Follistim s.c. (n = 58); hCG administration, oocyte retrieval, and ET. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Mean number of oocytes retrieved; patients with ET, chemical, clinical and continuing pregnancies; mean peak serum E2 levels; adverse events and injection site pain scores. RESULT(S): There were no significant differences among treatment groups in mean number of oocytes retrieved, peak serum E2 levels, patients with ET, continuing pregnancies, or live births. There were no significant differences among the treatment groups in the number, nature, or intensity of adverse events. Patients treated with Bravelle s.c. or Bravelle i.m. experienced significantly less injection site pain than patients treated with Follistim s.c. CONCLUSION(S): Bravelle s.c. and Bravelle i.m. are comparable in efficacy and safety to Follistim s.c. in patients undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation for IVF-ET.