Clinical efficacy of endoscopic pancreatic drainage for pain relief with malignant pancreatic duct obstruction.

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of pancreatic drainage for pain relief in advanced pancreatic cancer. METHOD Seventy-one patients with pancreatic carcinoma were divided into two groups: dilated and non-dilated pancreatic ducts. All patients underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic biliary stenting and pancreatic stenting. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores, pain remission rates and survival time were evaluated during follow-up. RESULTS The post-ERCP VAS score of the dilated group was lower than that of the non-dilated group at 1 and 3 months post-ERCP. There was no difference at 6 months. The pain remission rate in the dilated duct group was significantly higher than that in non-dilated duct group in 1 and 3 months post-ERCP. The median survival times were 8.17 and 8.22 months respectively. CONCLUSION Endoscopic pancreatic drainage can relieve pain of advanced pancreatic cancer accompanied by safe dilation of the pancreatic duct.