A multicenter clinical trial published in JAMA has found that a long-used endoscopic procedure does not prevent recurrent pancreatitis in adults with an anatomic anomaly, challenging decades of conventional wisdom. “Pancreas divisum is a causative factor in a subset of patients with recurrent acute pancreatitis, a painful inflammatory condition of the pancreas,” Keswani said. “Essentially, in pancreas divisum, the pancreas juice drains predominantly through a small opening in the intestine called the minor papilla. “However, despite decades of performing this therapy, its efficacy had never been definitively studied.”In the clinical trial, investigators studied 148 adults with unexplained recurrent acute pancreatitis and pancreas divisum. “In other words, the ERCP procedure to incise the minor papilla did not reduce pancreatitis episodes.