ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of contrast medium on the pancreatic pathology in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). METHODS: Twenty-four Wistar rats underwent injection of sodium taurocholate into the biliopancreatic duct to establish models of SAP and then randomly divided into 4 groups: Group A (SAP group), Group B (SAP models injected with normal saline injected group), Group C (SAP models with injection of 76% castrografin), and Group D (SAP models injected with ultravist-300). Another 6 rats were used as blank controls. The rats were killed to undergo pathological examination of their pancreases. Modified Schmidt method was used to score the pathological changes. RESULTS: The modified Schmidt scores of Groups A, B, C, and D were (6.5 +/- 1.2), (7.7 +/- 1.0), (7.5 +/- 1.5), and (7.2 +/- 1.2) respectively, all significantly higher than that of the control group [(3.2 +/- 1.7), all P < 0.05]. However, there was no significant difference among these 4 groups (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: CM has no adverse effects on the pathology of pancreas with SAP and does not worsen the disease.