Somatostatin administration prior to ERCP is effective in reducing the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis in high-risk patients.

Somatostatin has been extensively studied for the prophylaxis of pancreatitis following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). However, the results remain controversial. The present retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate the efficacy of pre- and post-ERCP somatostatin administration in the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). All ERCP procedures performed at one hospital between January 2009 and December 2012 were reviewed. They were divided into three groups based on somatostatin administration: pre-ERCP som group (somatostatin administration: 0.25 mg/h for 24 h, starting 1 h prior to ERCP), post-ERCP som group (somatostatin administration: 0.25 mg/h for 24 h, starting immediately following ERCP), and control group (no somatostatin administration). Out of a total of 304 cases, 81 received pre-ERCP somatostatin; 126 received post-ERCP somatostatin and 97 were not administered somatostatin. Pre-ERCP somatostatin was effective in reducing the incidence of PEP compared with that in the control group (4.9 vs. 16.5%; P=0.017). This benefit was significant in high-risk patients (8.9 vs. 26.0%; P=0.035), but not in low-risk patients (0 vs. 6.4%; P=0.254). Post-ERCP somatostatin was not effective in preventing PEP in high- or low-risk patients. In conclusion, pre-ERCP somatostatin may be effective in reducing the risk of PEP in high-risk patients, but not in low-risk patients. Post-ERCP somatostatin did not reveal a benefit in high- or low-risk patients. However, large randomized controlled trials are required to further confirm these findings.