Early Oral Carbohydrate Solution vs Clear Liquid Diet in Acute Pancreatitis

January 21, 2026 updated by: Aiqa Gulshan, Jinnah Hospital

Comparison of Oral Carbohydrate Solution Versus Clear Liquid Diet in Acute Pancreatitis:A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background:

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory condition associated with increased metabolic demands and negative nitrogen balance, making early nutritional support a critical component of management. Concentional practice favored prolonged fasting and delayed oral intake; however, recent evidence supports early oral feeding. Oral carbohydrate solutions (OCS) may provide early caloric support with minimal pancreatic stimulation, but data comparing OCS with clear liquid (CL) diets which is current practice remain limited, particularly in South Asian populations.The Convential diet (CD )group started at liquid diet then progressed towards soft and then solid diet experienced recurring pain at a considerably higher rate than the oral high carbohydrate solution (OCS )group providing essential calories,(13.2% vs. 3.8%, p < 0.001).OCS showed decrease rate of post prandial recurrent abdominal pain.

Objective:

To compare oral carbohydrate solution versus clear liquid diet as the initial oral feeding strategy in patients with acute pancreatitis, focusing on feeding intolerance and length of hospital stay.

Methods:

This prospective randomized controlled trial will be conducted at a tertiary-care hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. Adult patients (18-70 years) with mild to moderately severe acute pancreatitis will be randomized to receive either an oral carbohydrate solution (10% dextrose in water) or a clear liquid diet as the initial oral feed. The primary outcomes will be feeding intolerance within 24 hours and length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes include time to successful oral feeding, time to soft diet, changes in pain scores, inflammatory markers (CRP, WBC), glycemic response, need for nutritional escalation, complications, and patient satisfaction. Data will be analyzed using SPSS version 26, with a p-value ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant.

Conclusion:

If proven safe and effective, oral carbohydrate solution may serve as a simple, cost-effective and well-tolerated alternative to clear liquid diets for early oral feeding in acute pancreatitis, particularly in resource limited settings.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

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Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

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Study Type

Study Type

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Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
276

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
    • Punjab Province
      • Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan
        • Jinnah Hospital Lahore
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age range between 18 years and 70 years
  • Diagnosis of mild or moderately severe acute pancreatitis
  • Hemodynamically stable
  • Able to tolerate oral intake
  • Provided written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe acute pancreatitis
  • Chronic pancreatitis
  • Pregnancy
  • Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus
  • Known malabsorption syndrome,
  • Patients requiring immediate enteral tube feeding or parenteral nutrition,
  • Known allergy or intolerance to carbohydrate solutions,
  • Persistent retching or vomiting

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: ORAL CARBOHYDRATE SOLUTION GROUOP
Participant will be randomized in this group. Participant will receive an oral carbohydrate solution initiated after clinical stabilization.It will be be administrated orally with volume and frequency standardized for all participants and advancement according to study protocol.
Dietary supplement: Oral Carbohydrate Solution
Participant will be allocated in oral carbohydrate solution group.Participant will receive an oral carbohydrate solution initiated after clinical stabilization.It will be be administrated orally with volume and frequency standardized for all participants and advancement according to study protocol.
Active Comparator: CLEAR LIQUID DIET GROUP
Participant will receive a standard clear liquid diet initiated after clinical stabilization as per routine institutional practice in measured frequncy and volume and advancement according to study protocol.
Dietary supplement: Clear Liquid diet
Participant will receive a standard clear liquid diet initiated after clinical stabilization as per routine institutional practice in measured frequncy and volume and advancement according to study protocol.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
rate of feeding intolerance
Time Frame: Upto 24 hours after initiating first oral feed
Patient will be observed for 24 hours after initial feed for symptoms of feeding intolerance like pain,nausea,vomiting or abdominal distension.
Upto 24 hours after initiating first oral feed
Length of hospital Stay
Time Frame: From hospital admission to discharge in days
Length of hospital stay will be recorded from day of admission till discharge in days.
From hospital admission to discharge in days

Collaborators and Investigators

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Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Jinnah Hospital

Study record dates

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Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 21, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 29, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 21, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • ERB198/07/01-0-1-2026/AIMC/JHL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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