Dietary Patterns Following an Episode of Acute Pancreatitis: a Post-hoc Analysis From the PAPPEI Multi-Center, Prospective Study

BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disease resulting in local and systemic inflammation. It is now recognized that long-term complications can develop following an AP episode, including persistent GI symptoms, exocrine pancreatic dysfunction (EPD), and recurrence of AP. While nutrition plays a key role in recovery, the impact of diet patterns on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and recurrent AP remains unclear. METHODS: A secondary analysis of participants from the multicenter, post-acute pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PAPPEI) study who completed a standardized dietary questionnaire was performed to assess dietary patterns after AP. A dietary pattern score was developed to compare dietary changes over time, where a higher score reflects a more favorable dietary pattern. RESULTS: Significant changes in dietary pattern scores were observed over time with average scores peaking at three months (10.3 ± 3.0) then declining at one year (9.2 ± 3.0) ( P =0.024). Lower baseline dietary pattern scores were linked to recurrent AP ( P = 0.035), >10% weight loss ( P =0.016) and persistent GI symptoms ( P =0.030) at 12 months. CONCLUSION: Dietary patterns may contribute to the development of GI symptoms, weight loss and recurrent AP. Further research validating our observations and investigations into dietary interventions to reduce GI symptoms and disease recurrence is warranted.