Summary of the Clinical Pharmacist’s Role in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis: A Clinical Review

doi:10.28933/ijhp-2021-06-0605

Abstract

Introduction: The role of the clinical pharmacist in the management of acute pancreatitis has not been researched extensively, and only a few published studies on the topic can be found. This clinical review presents all pertinent published data and serves as a guide for clinical pharmacists who participate in the management of patients with acute pancreatitis. Methods: An extensive literature search was conducted on PubMed from 1990 to 2021 to retrieve relevant studies focusing on the role of the clinical pharmacist in the treatment of acute pancreatitis. Results: An analysis of the medications that are associated with acute pancreatitis is presented, highlighting the responsibility of the pharmacist to conduct a thorough medication investigation in order to identify a possible drug-induced acute pancreatitis. Medical management of acute pancreatitis, mainly fluid therapy, is an area where a clinical pharmacist can appropriately intervene. Proper choice of fluid therapy and its rate, nutritional considerations, pain management and antibiotic use, are all important to consider for a successful treatment with minimal adverse effects. It is well documented in the literature that clinical pharmacists can decrease hospital costs. Discharge counseling performed by a clinical pharmacist has been shown to increase patient compliance and decrease both readmission rates and follow-up physician visits. Conclusion: The clinical pharmacist, as the primary drug expert, can identify medication-induced pancreatitis, diminish the use of unnecessary antibiotics, improve patient care and decrease the overall costs.

Highlights

The role of the clinical pharmacist in the manage- *Correspondence to Author: ment of acute pancreatitis has not been researched extensively, Wissam K Kabbara and only a few published studies on the topic can be found
An exten- School of Pharmacy, Lebanese sive literature search was conducted on PubMed from 1990 to American University (LAU), Byblos, 2021 to retrieve relevant studies focusing on the role of the clin- Lebanon
This review presents the clinical pharmacist (CP)’s important contribution to Acute pancreatitis (AP) management in the identification of manageable risk factors of AP and a thorough review of home medications to identify any possible drug-induced AP

Summary

Introduction

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is the result of an inflammatory process within the pancreas [1]. The CP recommends patient-specific pharmacological treatment and supportive care, including fluid administration, nutritional support, pain management and appropriate antibiotic use based on the available published literature. The literature search three times the normal level), and characteristic was restricted to studies published in English findings of AP in abdominal imaging. Clinical activities performed by the CP include but are not limited to: taking a best possible medication history, developing effective and safe medication regimens, advising on the correct administration of drugs, and performing discharge counseling. The available evidence shows that CPs contribute substantially to the optimization of the use of antibiotics, to the minimization of adverse drug reactions and to a significant decrease in total treatment costs [8,9,10]. In a study published by the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy in 2019, CP interventions in the treatment of AP reduces the

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

72. ASHP guidelines on pharmacist-conducted