[Ornidazole in the treatment of liver dysfunction associated to long-term parenteral nutrition]. / Ornidazol como tratamiento de la hepatotoxicidad asociada a la nutrición parenteral total prolongada.

AIM: to reduction the TPN-related hepatic toxicity with an anaerobicidal therapy (ornidazole in our case). PATIENT: a 24-year-old male surgically treated for intestinal occlusion. He had been treated with abdominal radiotherapy for rabdomyosarcoma of embryonic urogenital sinus when he was five months old. It was found a great abdominal radiotherapy sequelae and occluded and perforated small-bowel loop that was resected. Postoperative time developed pelvic abscess and reoperation was performed. Severe intraabdominal inflammatory-adhesive process was noticed which included all the intestinal loops with multiple perforations. Attempts to release this situation was unsuccessful and several anastomoses, with some loop exclusions and a diverting loop jejunostomy were performed. In postoperative period he developed an enterocutaneous fistula and TPN was initiated. Higher and higher hepatic marker values were detected suggesting a progressive hepatotoxicity. METHODS: anaerobicidal agent (ornidazole) and cyclic total parenteral nutrition as a therapy design were prescribed. RESULTS: there were satisfactory showing a reduction in hepatic marker values (72.5% fall in alanine aminotransferase). CONCLUSIONS: bearing in mind that some theories suggest that total parenteral nutrition may cause atrophic changes in the gut mucosa so giving rise to bacterial translocation, this anaerobicidal treatment designed could be assumed effective for attenuating TPN-related liver damage.

Influence of somatostatin in the evolution of acute pancreatitis. A prospective randomized study.

A prospective, controlled, and randomized clinical study was carried out with the purpose of evaluating the influence of somatostatin in the evolution of acute pancreatitis. One hundred patients were randomly divided into two groups, a control group (n = 50 patients) and a somatostatin group (n = 50 patients to whom a dosage of 250 micrograms/h was administered for 48 h following a bolus of 250 micrograms at the beginning of therapy). The two groups were homogeneous in age, sex, etiology, and severity of clinical picture (on admission). The following parameters were compared in the two groups: 1. Evolution of the Computerized Axial Tomography (CT) findings on admission and after 48 h; 2. Length of hospital stay; 3. Need for surgery; and 4. Mortality. The results from the CT scans showed a significant statistical difference in favor of somatostatin regarding the evolution of pancreatic lesions and length of stay in the hospital. Another study using a larger sample would be required in order to evaluate the rest of the parameters.