Abstract

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most prevalent and dangerous gastrointestinal disorders that cause hospitalizations worldwide. In this comprehensive review of randomized control trials, the benefits and side effects of intravenous (IV) hydration treatment strategies for AP were reported and compared. This systematic review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines. The search was restricted to English-language papers and searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase from the year 2017 to 2024 for relevant randomized control trials. Key terms were AP, normal saline, Lactated Ringer’s solution, hydration, and aggressive. Four publications were included in this systematic review. The aggressive IV hydration group did not exhibit any greater clinical improvement than the non-aggressive IV hydration group, according to two of the included articles, which comprised 104 patients with mild pancreatitis. Severe AP acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) scores improved much more in the IV aggressive hydration group than in the non-aggressive group, according to the results of the included articles. Another research that included AP patients found that the vigorous IV hydration group had a greater incidence of sepsis compared to the IV non-aggressive hydration group. However, in the group receiving intensive IV hydration, only patients with severe pancreatitis had sepsis risk; those with a mild form of the disease did not. In both severe and mild AP, aggressive IV hydration raised the risk of fluid-related morbidity and mortality.

Key words: Acute pancreatitis, treatment, management, aggressive hydration, systemic review