Serial lipase measurements in pancreatic panniculitis.

Pancreatic panniculitis is a rare cutaneous manifestation of pancreatic disease with only scant case reports available to guide management. In this report, a woman in her 60s developed a painful, erythematous and indurated, nodular rash after an episode of acute pancreatitis postendoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). While clinically and radiologically the pancreatitis improved with standard conservative management, the panniculitis remained severely debilitating. Repeat testing of serum pancreatic enzymes revealed persistent and marked elevation. Octreotide was started to inhibit pancreatic enzyme release, and the lesions improved, with resolution of the panniculitis correlating with falling serum pancreatic enzyme levels. Hence, serial pancreatic enzyme testing may have utility in monitoring and management of pancreatic panniculitis.

Prescribing Placebos: An Experimental Examination of the Role of Dose, Expectancies, and Adherence in Open-Label Placebo Effects.

Background: Recent evidence indicates that placebo effects can occur even when patients know that they are taking a placebo, termed the open-label placebo effect. Aim: To assess whether placebo dose (one pill per day vs. four pills per day), treatment expectancies, and adherence contribute to open-label placebo effects. Method: Healthy undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to take one or four open-label placebo pills per day or to a no-treatment control group. Placebo-treated participants took a 5-day course of an open-label placebo described as enhancing physical (symptoms and sleep) and psychological (positive and negative emotional experience) well-being. Expectancies about placebo effectiveness and well-being were assessed at baseline, and well-being and adherence were assessed after the 5-day course of treatment. Results: Medium-to-large open-label placebo effects were evidenced in all well-being outcomes including sleep quality. Dose did not influence these effects. Both treatment expectancies and adherence were significant independent predictors of enhanced well-being in the two psychological well-being outcomes and the experience of physical symptoms, but sleep quality improved independently. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate the effect of open-label placebos in improving well-being and sleep quality and to show that open-label placebo reposes do not appear to be dose-dependent, but for most well-being outcomes are independently predicted by both positive expectancies and treatment adherence.