A meta-analysis of early oral refeeding and quickly increased diet for patients with mild acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND/AIM: The objective of the study is to clarify whether early oral refeeding (EORF) and quickly increasing diet (QID) are of benefit to patients with mild acute pancreatitis compared with a traditional oral refeeding strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Studies were searched in PubMed, Cochrane library, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, China Biology Medicine disc and Embase. A meta-analysis was then performed, using relapse of abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, and length of hospital stay (LOHS) as the evaluation indices. RESULTS: Eight trials met the inclusion criteria. For the oral refeeding time group, EORF could significantly decrease the LOHS (mean deviation [MD] −1.97; 95% confidence interval (CI) −3.32 to −0.62; P = 0.004), and there was no significant difference for relapse of abdominal pain (relative risk [RR] 1.17; 95% CI 0.69–2.00; P = 0.56) or nausea/vomiting (RR 1.30; 95% CI 0.19–8.82; P = 0.79) when compared with conventional oral refeeding. For the oral refeeding material group, there was no significant difference for relapse of abdominal pain (RR 0.86; 95% CI 0.53–1.40; P = 0.54), nausea/vomiting (risk difference −0.01; 95% CI −0.19–0.18; P = 0.94), or LOHS (MD −0.88; 95% CI −2.24–0.48; P = 0.20) between the QID and stepwise increasing diet groups. CONCLUSION: Pure EORF or QID caused no damage to patients with mild acute pancreatitis, and EORF could significantly decrease the LOHS.