Intravenous Ringers lactate versus normal saline for predominantly mild acute pancreatitis in a Nepalese Tertiary Hospital

BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common presentation in patients admitted with acute abdomen. Whether Ringers lactate (RL) or Normal Saline (NS) as a resuscitation fluid is better still remains unclear. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of RL and NS in terms of control of systemic inflammation by measuring indirect markers specifically Systemic Inflammation Response Syndrome (SIRS) scores and C- Reactive Protein (CRP) level. METHODS: This was an open label randomized trial conducted in a tertiary level hospital of Nepal. Ethical approval was obtained prior to the study. Patients with acute pancreatitis were randomized to either RL or NS group for the fluid resuscitation. The fluid was given as per the study protocol for three days for hydration. Baseline SIRS and CRP were recorded on admission and subsequently as defined. All the data were analyzed using SPSS ver 20.0 software. RESULTS: Total 51 patients were enrolled, 26 in RL and 25 in NS group. The commonest etiology of AP was alcohol (84.31%). SIRS was present in 46.2% and 64.0% of patients in RL and NS group respectively (p = 0.20) on admission. At least one SIRS criteria was still present in 44.0% of patients in the NS group compared to only 15.4% in the RL group after 24 hours (p = 0.025). The baseline CRP were comparable in both the groups. However after 72 hours, the increment of CRP was more in the NS group compared to the RL group; median value of 14.2 mg/dl (12.15, 16.45) and 22.2 mg/dl (18.20, 30.60) in RL and NS group respectively (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Ringers lactate was associated with a reduction in systemic inflammation compared to normal saline in patients with acute pancreatitis. Incidence of SIRS at 72 hours and occurrence of local complications were however similar in both the groups.