Active clinical trials for "Pancreatitis"

RATIONALE: Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) is the leading method to evaluate the pancreas but there may be difficulty characterizing small lesions, tumors which are not adenocarcinomas and neoplasia in the setting of pancreatitis. INTERVENTION: The innovation in this project will be the addition of intravenous contrast to standard EUS examination if the pancreas. PURPOSE: The aim is to determine if contrast enhances the ability of EUS to accurately diagnose lesions and target biopsies, and to define the quantitative features of this method. STUDY POPULATION:The population will include patients with pancreas cysts, masses, and inflammation presenting for EUS as part of standard clinical care. METHODOLOGY: This will be a prospective tandem trial involving conventional EUS, followed by EUS with contrast, followed by subsequent quantitative processing of contrast EUS imaging. ENDOINTS:Study endpoints will include the yield contrast EUS to evaluate pancreas cysts, masses, and inflammation. The impact of contrast EUS to better target the FNA of the chosen lesion will be assessed. Intra and interobserver variability will be assessed by comparing conventional EUS and contrast EUS of each case in a random order (intraobserver agreement) and among a group of blinded endosonographers (interobserver agreement).

The severity of acute pancreatitis varies considerably from minor symptoms to multi-organ failure. The pathophysiological mechanisms associated with these individual differences in severity are largely unknown. Acute pancreatitis is therefore classified based on clinical characteristics and routine blood samples. Information about pathophysiology and molecular subtypes of acute pancreatitis is needed to develop specific biomarkers and identify new drug targets. The investigators therefore plan to undertake an explorative study, which includes state-of-the-art biochemical assessment of patients with acute pancreatitis including multi-OMICS focusing on transcriptomics and proteomics.

This will be a phase 2, single-center, unblinded randomized controlled pilot trial of two arms comparing opioid-sparing analgesia to the current Boston Children's Hospital institutional practice which has been reported to predominantly include administration of opioids as a first-line analgesic to pediatric patients who present to the emergency department with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (AP). This is a pilot trial for which many outcomes have not previously been studied in the pediatric AP population. The focus of this investigation will be to investigate the magnitude and variability of effect sizes for designing a future multi-center, double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this study is to prospectively determine the effects of administering proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) following pancreaticoduodenectomy on postoperative outcomes. The findings of this study will help in avoiding the widespread use of PPIs during the immediate postoperative period following pancreatic surgery.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) is the most commonly used technique for diagnosis and treatment in the treatment of bile duct diseases including bile duct cholelithiasis and malignant/benign biliary obstruction. In particular, ERCP is an essential procedure for the removal of bile duct gallstones and bile drainage in malignant/benign biliary obstruction patients. Among ERCP-related complications, especially "post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP)", which occurs due to the anatomical structure of the pancreatic biliary system, statistically occurs in about 5-10% of patients who first received ERCP. It is known, and treatment for PEP is the same as treatment for general acute pancreatitis but is known to have a relatively worse prognosis. The basis of treatment for acute pancreatitis is a conservative treatment based on fasting and fluid treatment, and starting oral diet after abdominal pain and pancreatic enzyme levels (amylase/lipase) normalized. However, a recent study reported that early oral diet could improve the patient's prognosis. According to a systematic review of 11 randomized trial papers by Valerie et al., it was reported that the early diet had the effect of reducing hospital stay without increasing adverse events when comparing the prognosis of the early refeeding group and delayed refeeding group. This result is theoretically considered to be because the oral diet has the advantage of increasing intestinal permeability, gut motility and reducing the likelihood of pancreatic necrosis/ infection compared to the parenteral diet. As above, PEP has the same treatment method as general acute pancreatitis but is known to have a relatively worse prognosis. However, the effect of an early diet recently attempted in acute pancreatitis has not been reported in patients with PEP. Therefore, we investigate the effects of early and delayed diets on the prognosis of patients with PEP through a prospective multicenter study.

Patients with severe chronic pancreatitis may be candidates to have their pancreas removed and their islets transplanted into the liver to reduce the risk of diabetes mellitus, a procedure called total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplant (TPIAT). However, over half of patients who have a TPIAT will need to remain on some supplemental insulin life-long after the procedure. We will study therapies that may reduce damage to transplanted islets, and thereby improve long-term outcomes. Two promising anti-inflammatory therapies are available to protect islets from damage at the time of transplant: (1) the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitor etanercept and (2) the serine protease inhibitor alpha-1 antitrypsin. Both agents are commercially available for clinical trials. Proof-of-principle for etanercept has been demonstrated in type 1 diabetic allotransplant recipients, in whom a 10 day course of etanercept early post-transplant significantly improved long-term insulin independence, due to better survival of the transplanted beta cell mass in the engraftment period. Alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) reduces inflammatory cytokines, protects against cytokine-induced beta cell apoptosis, and prolongs islet graft survival in mice and intraportal IAT non-human primates. This initial 3-arm drug-treatment clinical trial will investigate the use of Etanercept and A1AT to improve IAT function at 90 days and 1 and 2 years post-TPIAT compared to standard care. Forty-five patients undergoing TPIAT will be randomized 1:1:1 to receive either: 1) etanercept (50 mg on day 0; 25 mg on days 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21), 2) alpha-1 antitrypsin (90 mg/kg IV days -1, +3, 7, 14, 21, 28) or 3) standard care. Patients will have mechanistic assessments drawn in the early post-operative period including inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and measures of beta cell loss. Metabolic testing will occur at 90, 365, and 730 days post-TPIAT, including mixed meal tolerance testing, IV glucose tolerance testing, and glucose-potentiated arginine-induced insulin secretion (GPAIS).

This study seeks to understand the performance of MRI to characterize pancreatitis and predict chronic complications (endocrine and exocrine) of pancreatitis. Through multiple aims, the investigators will benchmark MRI against relevant reference standards (e.g. endoscopic pancreatic function tests, laboratory data). The investigators will also characterize repeatability of the imaging findings and will work to develop methods to simplify and automate analysis of the MRI images. Research interventions depend on the Aim(s) participants enroll in but include: endoscopic pancreatic function testing (added on to clinically indicated upper GI endoscopy), blood tests, stool tests, gene sequencing, and survey completion. All participants will undergo research MRI examinations, a subset of which will include administration of intravenous secretin.

This study aims to investigate the effect of nano-curcumin supplementation on hospital length of stay, clinical outcomes, and inflammation level in mild and moderate acute pancreatitis. 42 eligible patients with mild and moderate acute pancreatitis will randomly assign to consume two soft gels each containing 40 mg of nano-curcumin or placebo (control group) every morning and evening for two weeks. Both groups will also receive the standard medical treatment of acute pancreatitis according to relevant guidelines. Patient's blood samples and clinical outcomes will assess on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 14 of admission. The two groups will also be compared in terms of adverse events and hospital length of stay. Moreover, the patient's hospital readmission due to pancreatitis will be recorded within 90 days of hospitalization.

Pancreatic duct stones can cause obstruction of the main pancreatic duct leading to abdominal pain, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and recurrent acute pancreatitis. By removing pancreatic duct stones, the obstruction can be relieved, and this can improve symptoms. Small stones can be removed with standard endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and stone removal, but larger stones may require lithotripsy to break up the stone before removal. The two current methods of lithotripsy include extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and single operator pancreatoscopy with intracorporeal lithotripsy (SOPIL). ESWL is based on concentrating shock wave energy to the stone through an external device. SOPIL is a newer technique based on direct visualization of the stone during ERCP and targeting the stone with a shock wave catheter. There are currently no studies directly comparing ESWL to SOPIL for breaking apart stones in the pancreatic duct, so this study is designed to compare the two techniques. Objective #1: Obtain pilot data to determine the optimal method of clearing large MPDS Objective #2: Obtain pilot data to assess how effective large MPDS clearance is in improving long term patient centered outcomes Objective #3: Obtain pilot data to measure the cost effectiveness of large MPDS clearance

This is a randomized trial comparing immediate endoscopic necrosectomy vs. step-up endoscopic interventions in patients with necrotizing pancreatitis.