Background: Enteral nutrition can be useful for the feeding of patients with acute pancreatitis, specially in the later phases of the disease.
Aim: To describe an endoscopic placement method for long nasojejunal tubes and assess its efficacy. To communicate a preliminary experience with enteral nutrition in patients with acute pancreatitis.
Patients and methods: An endoscopic placement method for nasojejunal tubes is described. In 24 patients with acute pancreatitis, 28 tubes were placed using this method, after the second week of evolution. In 15 patients with brain damage, traditional nasojejunal feeding tubes were placed without endoscopy. The position of both types of tubes was determined by fluoroscopy with the aid of contrast media.
Results: The endoscopic placement method was simple and the tube was placed beyond the ligament of Treitz in all patients. No traditional tube was placed in the jejunum and contrast media filled the duodenum in all cases. In patients with acute pancreatitis, enteral nutrition was well tolerated, 5 patients had a higher stool frequency and one, had an asymptomatic increase in serum amilase levels.
Conclusions: Long nasojejunal tubes can be easily placed beyond the ligament of Treitz with endoscopic aid and can be used for enteral feeding in patients with acute pancreatitis.