Adjunctive therapy of dexamethasone and composite salvia miltiorrhiza in 45 patients with severe acute pancreatitis

AIM: To estimate the effect of dexamethasone and composite salvia miltiorrhiza injection used as adjunctive therapy for severe acute pancreatitis(SAP).METHODS: From January 2002 to December 2004,45 cases of SAP treated with standard expectant treatment combined with dexamethasone and composite salvia miltiorrhiza injection were compared with 42 cases of SAP,who received only expectant therapy,and some clinical(parameters) were analyzed between the 2 groups.RESULTS:(Compared) with those in control group,the relief time of abdominal pain(t4.994,P0.01),the duration of serum amylase(recovery)(t=5.071,P0.01),the average hospital stay time(t5.496,P0.01) in treatment group was significantly shortened,and the incidence of complications(χ~211.943,P(0.01)) was significantly decreased.Though the ratio of conversion of no-operation to operation(χ~21.589,P0.05) and mortality(χ~2(1.497,) P0.05) descended in treatment group,there was no statistical significance between the 2 groups.CONCLUSION: The adjunctive therapy with dexamethasone and composite salvia miltiorrhiza injection for SAP may shorten the course of disease,improve the prognosis and decrease the complications.