Use of antioxidants to treat pain in chronic pancreatitis

OBJECTIVE: the purpose of this report is to analyze the results of a 1-year clinical study of antioxidant therapy in the treatment of pain and recurre nt inflammatory episodes in patients with chronic and acute recurrent pancr eatitis, using a prospective, descriptive, pre-post, open design. The inten sity of pain at the beginning and end of treatment was assessed with a visu al analogue scale, and these results along with the number of hospital admi ssions for pancreatic disease were analyzed. METHODS: we studied patients with acute recurrent or chronic pancreatitis w ho had suffered from pain or acute inflammatory episodes the year before th e beginning of treatment with a complex containing L-methionine, beta-carot ene, vitamin C, vitamin E and organic selenium. RESULTS: of 10 patients with chronic pancreatitis who completed treatment, the intensity of pain was reduced considerably in 9 (61.5 +/- 21.5 mm vs. 1 9.6 +/- 26.1 mm, p = 0.03), and pain was completely absent in 3 of these pa tients. Twelve patients who completed treatment had fewer hospital admissio ns during the year with antioxidant treatment than they had had during the previous year (1.5 +/- 1.62 vs. 0.25 +/- 0.45 admissions, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: antioxidant treatment had a positive effect in patients who su ffered from pancreatic inflammatory pain, and its effectiveness should be t ested before more aggressive and costlier treatments are considered.