Osteoporosis / Osteopenia prevalent in chronic pancreatitis

(HealthDay)—Sixty-five percent of patients with chronic pancreatitis have osteoporosis or osteopenia, according to a meta-analysis published in the February issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Sinead N. Duggan, Ph.D., of Trinity College Dublin, and colleagues performed a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

The researchers found that 10 studies, involving a total of 513 patients, were eligible for inclusion. The pooled prevalence rate in patients with chronic pancreatitis was 23.4 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 16.6 to 32.0) for osteoporosis and 39.8 percent for osteopenia (95 percent CI, 29.1 to 51.6). Among patients with chronic pancreatitis, the pooled prevalence rate for either osteoporosis or osteopenia was 65 percent (95 percent CI, 54.7 to 74.0).

"We recommend that bone-health assessment should form an integral part of the medical/nutritional work-up of patients with chronic pancreatitis to prevent and treat osteoporosis and, ultimately, to prevent fracture and its associated morbidity," the authors write.