Somatostatin and gabexate for post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis prevention: meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Prior studies have suggested the efficacy of somatostatin and gabexate in post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis prevention. We examined this notion in our study.
METHODS: An extensive literature search led to the inclusion of seven homogeneous high-quality studies (Jadad score >or=4), involving 3,130 patients. The studies were grouped according to the drug's length of administration: given as an infusion for 12 h (groups SOM1 and GAB1 for somatostatin and gabexate, respectively); given as an infusion for less then 12 h (groups SOM2 and GAB2 for somatostatin and gabexate, respectively); and given as a bolus (group SOM3 for somatostatin, none identified for gabexate). Separate meta-analyses investigating post-procedural pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia rates were conducted in a random effects model.
RESULTS: Pancreatitis analyses yielded significant risk differences for the SOM1, SOM3 and GAB1 groups. The resulting values were 7.7% (95% confidence intervals [CI][3.4 to 12.0], P < 0.0001), 8.2% (95% CI [4.4 to 12.0], P < 0.0001) and 5.2% (95% CI [1.1 to 9.4], P = 0.01), respectively. No statistically significant risk differences were observed for the SOM2 and GAB2 groups: -2.3% (95% CI [-5.2 to 0.5], P = 0.11) and -1.1% (95% CI [-3.8 to 1.6], P = 0.41), respectively. Hyperamylasemia analyses yielded significant risk differences for the SOM1 and SOM3 groups (P = 0.017 and 0.001, respectively), although not for the SOM2, GAB1 and GAB2 groups (P = 0.44, 0.49 and 0.47, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: Somatostatin administered as a bolus seems to be an efficacious measure of post-ERCP pancreatitis prevention, reducing pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia rates, and being applicable to clinical practice. Further study is required before its introduction into routine care.