Fifteen RCTs (n=2,621) were included in the review. Two RCTs were reported as abstracts only. Sample sizes ranged from 40 to 832 patients. Four RCTs were at low risk of bias and 11 were at high risk of bias.
There were no statistically significant differences in occurrence of post-ERCP pancreatitis between patients in intervention and control groups (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.08; 15 RCTs). There was no evidence of statistical heterogeneity (I2=28.7%). Sensitivity analyses did not significantly alter the results. Subgroup analyses showed that RCTs with 200 patients or more indicated that octreotide was statistically significantly more effective than control on post-ERCP pancreatitis (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.79, I2=0%; five RCTs). The number neede to treat with octreotide to prevent one outcome event was 31 patients.
There was evidence of potential publication bias.