Pancreatic Enzyme Use Reduces Pancreatitis Frequency in Children with Acute Recurrent or Chronic Pancreatitis: A report from INSPPIRE.

BACKGROUND: Among children who suffer from acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) or chronic pancreatitis (CP), acute pancreatitis (AP) episodes are painful, often require hospitalization, and contribute to disease complications and progression. Despite this recognition, there are currently no interventions to prevent AP episodes. In this retrospective cohort study, we assessed the impact of pancreatic enzyme therapy (PERT) use on clinical outcomes among children with pancreatic sufficient ARP or CP.

METHODS: Children with pancreatic sufficient ARP or CP in the INSPPIRE-2 cohort were included. Clinical outcomes were compared for those receiving versus not receiving PERT, as well as frequency of AP before and after PERT. Logistic regression was used to study the association between development of AP episodes after starting PERT and response predictors.

RESULTS: Among 356 pancreatic sufficient participants, 270 (76%) had ARP and 60 (17%) received PERT. Among those on PERT, 42% did not have a subsequent AP episode, during a mean 2.1 years of follow-up. Children with a SPINK1 mutation (p=0.005) and those with ARP (compared to CP, p=0.008) were less likely to have an AP episode after starting PERT. After initiation of PERT, the mean AP annual incidence rate decreased from 3.14 down to 0.71 (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION: In a retrospective analysis, use of PERT was associated with a reduction in the incidence rate of AP among children with pancreatic sufficient ARP or CP. These results support the need for a clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of PERT to improve clinical outcomes among children with ARP or CP.