Sheehan Sean J, Lee Jeffrey H, Wells Carolyn K, Topazian Mark
Section of Digestive Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Gastrointest Endosc. 2005 Aug;62(2):260-5. doi: 10.1016/s0016-5107(05)00332-9.
Serum amylase levels 2 hours after ERCP predict postprocedure pancreatitis. The value of serum amylase measurements after sphincter of Oddi manometry (SOM) and the effect of pancreatic-duct stent placement on serum amylase are unknown.
Records were reviewed for 88 SOM patients who had serum amylase measured 2 hours after the procedure. Post-SOM pancreatitis was defined as pain with a >3-fold elevation of serum amylase on the morning after SOM. "Possible pancreatitis" was defined as pain with a <3-fold elevation of serum amylase on the morning after SOM.
Post-SOM pancreatitis and possible pancreatitis each occurred in 13% of the study cohort. Post-SOM pancreatitis was associated with the absence of a pancreatic stent and occurred in 0% of patients without a stent who had normal 2-hour serum amylase vs. 67% with elevated 2-hour serum amylase (p < 0.01). Among patients who received a stent, pancreatitis occurred in 6%, regardless of whether the 2-hour serum amylase was elevated. Possible pancreatitis occurred mainly in patients who received stents, and it also was associated with elevation of the 2-hour serum amylase.
Elevation of the serum amylase level 2 hours after SOM predicts post-SOM pancreatitis but only in patients who do not receive a pancreatic stent. Among patients who received a stent, elevated 2-hour serum amylase levels predict subsequent findings that may be caused by attenuated pancreatitis.
