Fluid Resuscitation in Acute Pancreatitis: Striking the Right Balance

Fluid resuscitation is a key component of the early management of acute pancreatitis. Current clinical practice guidelines recommend aggressive fluid resuscitation despite limited prospective data. In this month's issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, de-Madaria et al. present findings from a prospective cohort study that evaluate the relationship between early resuscitation parameters and several important outcome measures. Their findings challenge several of our long held beliefs regarding the benefits of vigorous fluid resuscitation in the early phase of acute pancreatitis. Findings from this study along with several others now suggest that a more tailored approach to resuscitation is needed.