Fluid resuscitation in acute pancreatitis: Normal saline or lactated Ringer's solution?

AIM: To investigate whether administration of Ringer’s solution(RL) could have an impact on the outcome of acute pancreatitis(AP).METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study on 103 patients [68 men and 35 women,mean age 51.2 years(range,19-92 years)] hospitalized between 2011 and 2012. All patients admitted to the Department of Gastroenterology of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior(Poland) with a diagnosis of AP who had disease onset within 48 h of presentation were included in this study. Based on the presence of persistent organ failure(longer than 48 h) as a criterion for the diagnosis of severe AP(SAP) and the presence of local complications [diagnosis of moderately severe AP(MSAP)],patients were classified into 3 groups: mild AP(MAP),MSAP and SAP. Data were compared between the groups in terms of severity(using the revised Atlanta criteria) and outcome. Patients were stratified into 2 groups based on the type of fluid resuscitation: the 1-RL group who underwent standard fluid resuscitation with a RL 1000 m L solution or the 2-NS group who underwent standard fluid resuscitation with 1000 m L normal saline(NS). All patients from both groups received an additional 5% glucose solution(1000-1500 m L) and a multi-electrolyte solution(500-1000 m L).RESULTS: We observed 64(62.1%) patients with MAP,26(25.24%) patients with MSAP and 13(12.62%) patients with SAP. No significant difference in the distribution of AP severity between the two groups was found. In the 1-RL group,we identified 22(55.5%) MAP,10(25.5%) MSAP and 8(20.0%) SAP patients,compared with 42(66.7%) MAP,16(24.4%) MSAP and 5(7.9%) SAP cases in the 2-NS group(P = 0.187). The volumes of fluid administered during the initial 72-h period of hospitalization were similar among the patients from both the 1-RL and 2-NS groups(mean 3400 m L vs 3000 m L,respectively). No significant differences between the 1-RL and 2-NS groups were found in confirmed pancreatic necrosis [10 patients(25%) vs 12 patients(19%),respectively,P = 0.637]. There were no statistically significant differences between the 1-RL and 2-NS groups in the percentage of patients who required enteral nutrition(23 patients vs 17 patients,respectively,P = 0.534). Logistic regression analysis confirmed these findings(OR = 1.344,95%CI: 0.595-3.035,P = 0.477). There were no significant differences between the 1-RL and 2-NS groups in mortality and the duration of hospital stay(median of 9 d for both groups,P = 0.776).CONCLUSION: Our study failed to find any evidence that the administration of RL in the first days of AP leads to improved clinical outcomes.