Somatostatin analogues in the prevention of pancreas-related complications after pancreatic resection

What Was Tested

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

The Achilles' heel of operative pancreatectomies is the pancreaticoenterostomy for proximal resections and the pancreatic parenchymal closure for distal resections.

Who Took Part

The study group was 381 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults.

The researchers performed a randomized, prospective, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial of the use of perioperative vapreotide, a potent somatostatin analogue, in pancreatic resections for presumed neoplasms in 381 patients without chronic pancreatitis.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, placebo-controlled and multicenter study.

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.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Somatostatin, giving a reference point.

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

The researchers also reviewed the literature on the use of somatostatin and its analogues after pancreatectomy.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Gastrointestinal Agents, Pancreas, Exocrine, Pancreatectomy, Pancreatic Fistula, Postoperative Complications and Somatostatin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, placebo-controlled and multicenter study of Somatostatin in 381 patients in people with pancreatitis (after the acute phase).

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2006 (Journal of hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery), a journal based in Japan.

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