[Similarly to other acute inflammatory responses, the mortality curve of acute pancreatitis has two distinct peaks. The first one, which coincides with a hyperinflammatory phase, is due to the development of an overwhelming systemic inflammatory response syndrome and subsequent multi-organ failure. The second peak of mortality is detected much later, after 14 days from the onset of the disease, when the compensatory antiinflammatory phase results in the infection of the necrotising pancreatic glandular substance. Since no therapy has been shown to efficiently prevent the activation of inflammatory and proteolytic cascades that evoke and sustain the disease, the treatment of acute pancreatitis is basically symptomatic. Beside adequate fluid and volume replacement and pain relief, medical and mechanical support may become necessary if organ failure develops. Recent studies suggest that there are ways to decrease the incidence of infection in pancreatic necrosis, which is usually due to bacterial translocation from the gut. The results of attempts to decrease the frequency of septic complications are controversial. A number of studies support the need of antibiotic prophylaxis but the evidence is weak. Furthermore, the increasingly observed infections by multi-resistant strains of Gram-positive bacteria and Candida species are due to long-term antibiotic use, which strongly questions the grounds for prophylactic antibiotic treatment. Recently, various clinical studies aimed to decrease bacterial translocation in other ways, including probiotic use and enteral feeding. This paper provides a systematic review of the data available in the evidence-based literature on the use of antibiotics and the role of alternative and adjuvant therapy in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis.]
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