Mortality Rate

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory condition of the pancreas following the activated pancreatic enzymes induced by varied causes, with or without other organ(s) dysfunction. The production and release of inflammatory factors is generally considered as the key factor of pathogenesis. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most commonly applied agents for inflammatory diseases. A series studies have proved that indomethacin can reduce the risk of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), but high-quality evidence is still lacking in the field of effectiveness of NSAIDs to treat, rather than prevent, other types of AP. Majority of animal experiments showed that NSAIDs had protective effects for organ functions, but the results of several preliminary clinical studies were inconsistent. Randomized controlled trials are eagerly awaited to elucidate its effects on AP.

Non-COVID-19 sepsis (Sepsis) has always been one of the common diseases in critically ill patients. The main treatment strategy is to kill pathogens and mitigate hyperinflammation. One study demonstrated that the supplementation with 576,000 IU cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) as a single dose in critically ill adults in the medical intensive care units (MICUs) can improve clinical outcomes, including acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score (APACHE II), sequential organ failure assessment score (SOFA), and C-reactive protein (CRP). It is a three-year, multi-center, prospective, parallel, double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial for 240 eligible subjects, with administrations of vitamin D3 576,000 IU or placebo every 24 hours for 3 days (72 hours) within 96 hours after intensive care unit (ICU) admission.