Ileus in Acute Pancreatitis Correlates with Severity of Pancreatitis, Not Volume of Fluid Resuscitation or Opioid Use: Observations from Mid-West Cohort

The recovery of gastrointestinal functions is an important determinant of course of acute pancreatitis and the timing of hospital discharge. Here, we evaluated association between fluid resuscitation volume and opioid use with clinically significant ileus development in patients with acute pancreatitis. Consecutive adults admitted with acute pancreatitis between January 2014 and December 2019 to our academic and two community hospital were included. The Bedside Index for Severe Acute Pancreatitis (BISAP) and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) were used to predict severity of pancreatitis based on their readily availability. Severity of pancreatitis was determined based on the Revised Atlanta classification. Fluid resuscitation volume and opioid use were collected as administered on day 1 and day 2.Clinically significant ileus was determined based on treating physician’s assessment. Forty-nine (11%) of 441 unique patients included in the study developed clinically significant ileus. Demographics of patients with or without ileus were similar between the two groups. On univariate analysis, the presence of SIRS syndrome (< 0.001), a > 3 BISAP score (p < 0.001), and severity of pancreatitis (p < 0.001) were associated with ileus, mean fluid resuscitation volume (5.6L vs 5.5L, p = 0.888) and cumulative median morphine-equivalent units (12 vs 12, p = 0.232) on day 1 and day 2 were not. However, ileus development was associated with increased hospital length of stay and admission to intensive care unit. On observations, clinically significant ileus development is associated with severity of acute pancreatitis, not with fluid resuscitation volume or opioid analgesia dose used in current standard of care.