Can Aprotinin Reduce Pancreatitis After Scoliosis Surgery
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
1969-12-31
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Pancreatitis is caused by an acute injury on the pancreas. This illness is associated with
abdominal pain, vomiting or even fever. We have recently reported a high rate of acute
pancreatitis developing in children who undergo posterior spinal fusion for scoliosis (to
correct spinal curve). We showed that the amount of blood loss during the surgery is related
to the incidence of pancreatitis. In addition, some markers that monitor tissue injury are
elevated after the surgery and significantly higher in the patients who develop acute
pancreatitis later. We propose that if blood loss and tissue injury could be reduced, then
the incidence of pancreatits may be less in these children. Therefore we plan to use a drug
Aprotinin to just do that. Aprotinin has been used to reduce blood loss in patients
undergoing posterior spinal surgery, the same population we propose to study. If it turns out
that Aprotinin can reduce blood loss or/and the damage to the pancreas, thus pancreatitis, it
will diminish the pain and discomfort, and shorten hospital stay in these children. The
results from this study will guide medical care in these children in the future.