Epidural analgesia is infrequently used in patients with acute pancreatitis : a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS: Epidural analgesia is an option for pain control in patients with acute pancreatitis. The aim of this study is to describe characteristics, morbidity and mortality of patients with acute pancreatitis treated with epidural analgesia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data was extracted from a national inpatient database in Japan on patients hospitalized with acute pancreatitis between July 2010 and March 2013. A total of 44,146 patients discharged from acute care hospitals were included in this retrospective cohort study. The patient background, timing and duration of epidural analgesia, complications (epidural hematoma or abscess), surgery (for cholelithiasis / cholecystitis or complications) and mortality were verified.

RESULTS: Epidural analgesia was used in 307 patients (0.70 %). The mean age was 64.0 years (standard deviation, 15.4 years) and 116 (37.8%) of the patients were female. The median duration of epidural analgesia was four days (interquartile range, 3-5 days). No patient underwent surgery for epidural hematoma or abscess. Six (2.0%) patients died during hospitalization. Most likely causes of death were pulmonary embolism, multiple organ failure, sepsis, and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus enterocolitis. The responsible physician for 250 of the patients (81.4%) was a gastroenterological surgeon. Epidural analgesia was started on the day of surgery in 278 (90.6%) patients.

CONCLUSION: Epidural analgesia is rarely used in patients with acute pancreatitis. None of the patients included in the study required surgery for epidural hematoma or abscess. Further research to evaluate the efficacy and safety of epidural analgesia in patients with acute pancreatitis is warranted.