Visceral fat, muscle mass help prevent recurrent hospitalizations in acute pancreatitis

Higher visceral fat and muscle mass can help acute pancreatitis (AP) patients avoid recurrent hospitalizations, underscoring the importance of nutritional rehabilitation, a recent study has found.

Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 158 patients (mean age 63.7±17.4 years, 57.9 percent men) with an index admission for acute pancreatitis. Computed tomography images were retrieved and used for body composition evaluations. Study outcome was the impact of body composition on mortality and readmission rates within a year.

Over the follow-up period, the mean length of hospital stay was 9.1±7.6 days. Mortality was low, at only 1.3 percent and 6.3 percent for in-hospital and 1-year death rates, respectively. In the year after surgery, 56.3 percent of patients either died or were readmitted.

Muscle mass appeared to be an important indicator of such an outcome, such that participants below the median experienced marginally more hospitalizations in the year after vs before surgery (1.7±2.2 vs 1.3±2.2; p=0.067). No such effect was reported for patients at or above the median value of muscle mass (p=0.887).

Visceral fat had an even stronger effect. Patients below the median value had significantly more hospitalizations in the year after than before surgery (1.6±2.3 vs 1.1±1.7; p=0.041), but no such interaction was apparent for those at or above the median (p=0.90).

Multivariate analysis confirmed the latter finding, suggesting that higher visceral adiposity was significantly protective against recurrent hospitalizations after surgery (odds ratio, 0.995, 95 percent confidence interval, 0.991–1.000; p=0.034).

“[V]isceral adiposity appears as a positive prognostic factor and was negatively correlated with repeat hospitalizations among patients with AP,” the researchers said. “The findings of this study highlight the importance of nutritional rehabilitation following hospitalization in a surgical ward.”