A study to estimate the prevalence of sarcopenia in chronic pancreatitis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65129/medical.v1i3.55Keywords:
Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes Mellitus, Exocrine Insufficiency, Psoas Muscle Index, SarcopeniaAbstract
Background and Introduction: As an inflammatory disease with exocrine and endocrine insufficiency that resultantly leads to malnutrition and sarcopenia, Chronic Pancreatitis (CP) is associated with significant morbidity that drastically reduces the quality of life. While limited studies on CP in India indicate its widespread prevalence, the burden of CP and the associated sarcopenia in the regional Tamil Nadu population does not prevail. This study, conducted in urban Tamil Nadu at three tertiary-level centres, is the first regional investigation aimed at assessing the prevalence of sarcopenia in CP patients and the influence of age, gender, BMI, and associated causes/complications of CP on sarcopenia. Methods: A total of 160 patients diagnosed with CP and admitted to the MGE ward of Government Kilpauk Medical College, Government Peripheral Hospital Anna Nagar, and Government Royapettah Hospital between March 2024 and September 2024 were included in the study. Sarcopenia in the CP patients was diagnosed using Computed Tomography (CT) of the abdomen to assess the Psoas Muscle Index (PMI). Results: The study identified a 1.6% prevalence of CP in the assessed regional population, with 160 patients among 10,000 individuals. Of these, 16% were female, and 84% were male. The PMI values significantly varied across the underweight, normal, and overweight BMI categories of the CP patients. Sarcopenia was prevalent in 46% of the CP patients, among which 52% of the patients were male and 15% were female. The PMI values differed significantly based on gender between males and females and based on age, in the age category 66-85, between the sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic groups, and were associated with sarcopenia. The PMI values between the sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic groups varied significantly, and 47% of the CP patients in the ideal weight category were sarcopenic. Further, the results indicated that complications such as diabetes mellitus (47%), exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (14.4%) and cirrhosis (11.9%) were significantly more prevalent among sarcopenic patients. The results also revealed that DM is associated with sarcopenia in the present study. The percentage of patients with alcoholic and smoking aetiology in the sarcopenic group was 14.9%, and smoking 17.6%, and did not contribute as a major population among the sarcopenics. Taken together, the results reveal that sarcopenia is widely prevalent in the CP study population, and age, gender, and BMI categories had significantly varying PMI between the sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic groups. Conclusion: The study, as a first initiative, underscores the critical role of sarcopenia in CP disease progression and highlights the importance of early diagnosis with PMI and CT. The study underlines the need for targeted interventions, including nutritional and lifestyle modifications, to improve patient outcomes, thereby laying the foundation for future multicentric research that would address the complications of CP in diverse populations.
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