Do pancreatic duct stents cause or prevent pancreatic sepsis?
GROUND: Pancreatic sepsis can occur after contrast injection into an obstructed or disrupted pancreatic duct. Whether stents cause or prevent pancreatic sepsis is unknown. Accordingly, the pancreatic duct bacteriology in patients with pancreatic duct stents was retrospectively reviewed and contrasted with biliary cultures taken from patients at the time of bile duct stent retrieval and/or exchange. METHODS: Of 61 patients (29 men, 32 women; 72 stents; mean age 51 [16] years, range 14-88 years), 36 with pancreatic duct stents had pancreatic duct cultures obtained at the time of stent exchange and/or retrieval. The results of these cultures were compared with bile duct cultures taken from 36 patients at the time of biliary stent exchange/retrieval. Eleven of the 36 patients with pancreatic duct stents also had bile duct stents. Data collected included stent patency, clinical sepsis at initial stent placement or retrieval, administration of antibiotics before the procedure, indication for
