Conservative Treatment of Acute Pancreatitis and Use of Enteral Nutrition

Acute pancreatitis is a disease which can present in a mild or severe form. In the last few years, the incidence of acute pancreatitis has been steadily rising. The treatment of severe cases is complex and nutrition is one of the key treatment factors. Enteral and parenteral nutrition are documented parts of acute phase treatment included in many guidelines. However, there is a controversy about the timing of initiation of peroral nutrition after the acute phase of severe pancreatitis has resolved. This dissertation shows the results of monocentric prospective randomized trial which compares the safety and effectivity of peroral nutrition compared to enteral nutrition in patients with severe acute pancreatitis during hospitalization as well as in long term after hospital discharge. Patients with severe acute pancreatitis were randomized into two groups - enteral nutrition versus peroral nutrition. The randomized nutrition strategy was initiated within the first 14 days of hospitalization. We monitored the length of hospital stay, tolerance of nutrition, complications, body weight and nutrition parameters. The two groups did not differ significantly in the length of hospital stay. The number of complications was similar between the groups, there was no significant difference in the rate of acute..