Anti-inflammatory Effect of Pre-operative Stimulation of the Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway

Anti-inflammatory Effect of Pre-operative Stimulation of the Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway: A Potential New Therapeutical Intervention for Postoperative Ileus

Hypothesis:

Prucalopride can mimic electrical stimulation of the abdominal vagus nerve and has an anti-inflammatory effect.

Aims:

In the present pilot study, the investigators want to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of prucalopride. The following aims are formulated:

1. to show that prucalopride has a similar inflammatory effect as abdominal vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)
2. to evaluate whether prucalopride leads to accelerated post-operative recovery

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients undergoing partial or full resection of the pancreas due to a benign or malignant tumor

Exclusion Criteria:

• adjuvant radiotherapy
• evident intra-abdominal inflammation (diagnosed by imaging and/or laboratory results, including an abscess or cholecystitis)
• chronic pancreatitis
• pancreatic polypeptide producing endocrine tumor
• American Society of Anesthesiologists physical-health status classification (ASA-PS)>3
• Poorly regulated diabetes (>200 mg/dl (=11 mmol/l))