A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows rectally administered indomethacin significantly reduced the incidence of pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
Researchers enrolled 602 patients at elevated risk for post-ERCP pancreatitis in the study. They received either a single dose of the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug or placebo immediately after ERCP.
Post-ERCP pancreatitis developed in 27 of 295 patients (9.2 percent) in the indomethacin group and in 52 of 307 patients (16.9 percent) in the placebo group. Moderate-to-severe pancreatitis developed in 13 patients (4.4 percent) in the indomethacin group and in 27 patients (8.8 percent) in the placebo group.
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