Who we are

ERICA (intERnational league agaInst biliary-pancreatiC diseAses) is an international consortium for clinical research in pancreatic and biliary diseases.

Our goal is to conduct multicenter clinical trials and observational studies to improve the treatment of patients with pancreatic and biliary tract diseases. The studies are designed to be clinically relevant and patient-centered.

ERICA is promoted and coordinated by the clinical pancreatology research group of ISABIAL (Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research).

ISABIAL’s clinical research group in pancreatology comprises a multidisciplinary team of gastroenterologists, surgeons, specialists in clinical analysis and radiologists from the Dr. Balmis General University Hospital.

Its principal investigator is Enrique de-Madaria and its coordinator Alicia Vaillo, both attached to the Gastroenterology Department. This group exists thanks to Miguel Pérez-Mateo and Juan Martínez Sempere, who developed pancreatology and promoted clinical research in pancreatic diseases at the Dr. Balmis Hospital from 1996 to 2005.

Our most important multicenter study publications have been:

Early factors associated with fluid sequestration and outcomes of patients with acute pancreatitis (Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2014)

Evidence-based Guidelines for the Management of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency After Pancreatic Surgery (Ann Surg 2016)

An international multicenter study of early intravenous fluid administration and outcome in acute pancreatitis (United European Gastroenterol J 2017)

Influence of age, body mass index and comorbidity on major outcomes in acute pancreatitis, a prospective nation-wide multicentre study (United European Gastroenterol 2018)

Determinants of Severity in Acute Pancreatitis: A Nation-wide Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study (Ann Surg 2019)

Statin consumption and risk of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (Pancreatology 2020)

Dietary Fat Patterns and Outcomes in Acute Pancreatitis in Spain (Front Med 2020)

Chronic use of statins and acetylsalicylic acid and incidence of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography acute pancreatitis: A multicenter, prospective, cohort study (Dig Endosc 2021)

Design and validation of a patient-reported outcome measure scale in acute pancreatitis: the PAN-PROMISE study (Gut 2021)

COVID-19 and acute pancreatitis: examining the causality (Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2021)

Gastrointestinal symptoms and complications in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, an international multicentre prospective cohort study (TIVURON project) (Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022)

International multidisciplinary survey on the initial management of acute pancreatitis: Perspective of point-of-care specialists focused on daily practice (J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Sci 2022)

The present and future of gastroenterology and hepatology: an international SWOT analysis (the GASTROSWOT project) (Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022)

Aggressive or Moderate Fluid Resuscitation in Acute Pancreatitis (N Engl J Med 2022)

Survey on initial management of acute pancreatitis in Latin America (Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023)