[Natural history of the pancreatic stump after duodenopancreatectomy of the pancreatic head]

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Somatostatin in the context of pancreatitis (after the acute phase) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

This work aims to assess the exocrine secretion of the pancreatic remnant within the early post-operative period.

Who Took Part

The study group was 7 patients.

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, adults, middle-aged adults and older adults.

Seventy-five patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy for presumed tumour were included in a prospective multicentre study.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, placebo-controlled and multicenter.

Because people in this Somatostatin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Somatostatin group a baseline to be compared against.

Running at several centres spread the Somatostatin study over different clinics and patient groups.

A tube was inserted in the pancreatic duct at the time of construction of the pancreatic anastomosis.

Peripancreatic drainage was routinely used.

Pancreatic juice and peripancreatic drainage fluid were collected and measured and pancreatic enzyme monitored.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Amylases, Drainage, Lipase, Pancreatic Fistula, Pancreatic Juice, Pancreatic Neoplasms and Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, placebo-controlled and multicenter study of Somatostatin in 7 patients in people with pancreatitis (after the acute phase).

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 5 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2002 (Annales de chirurgie), a journal based in France.

More context: the Somatostatin compound page, Pancreatitis (after the acute phase) research.