Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy

This product is free for ON members.

This webinar was presented live on December 1, 2021.

This webinar is on exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) and gives a comprehensive overview of this disease. The attendee will learn the normal process of digestion, what occurs with EPI, signs and symptoms of EPI, conditions associated with EPI, treatment of EPI with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, recent research, dosing and best practices. This presentation also highlights pancreatic cancer and EPI associated with resectable and unresectable tumor types.

CPEU: 1
CPE Level: 2
Learning Need Codes: 5150, 5440, 5220
Performance Indicators: 8.3.1, 8.3.6, 8.1.1

Learning Objectives

1. After this session, the participant will be able to explain the role of the pancreas in normal digestion.
2. After this session, the participant will be able to list symptoms and common conditions that are associated with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
3. After this session, the participant will be able to discuss the importance of dosing of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in controlling exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Speaker

Whitney B. Christie, MS, RD, CSO, CNSC

Whitney Christie is a registered dietitian at Mary Washington Healthcare's Regional Cancer Center. She is a certified specialist in oncology and a certified specialist in nutrition support. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Human Nutrition and Foods from West Virginia University and a Master's degree in Nutrition from Case Western Reserve University. She has been working as a clinical dietitian for 15 years. In addition, she is involved in multiple research/quality improvement projects, outreach events and committees for the cancer program. Her areas of interest include exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, tube feeding in the home setting and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

Whitney has worked in outpatient oncology for over 10 years. Several years ago, Whitney gave a recommendation to an oncologist to start a patient on pancreatic enzymes to control symptoms she identified during an initial consultation with one of his pancreatic cancer patients. The oncologist asked her for pancreatic enzyme dosing recommendations for this patient. Whitney had no prior experience with pancreatic enzyme dosing. Through research and collaboration with pancreatic enzyme representative and other oncology dietitians, Whitney has developed an advance skillset in pancreatic enzyme dosing. She receives regular referrals to evaluate and recommend dosing of pancreatic enzymes for cancer patients of varying diagnoses. She has observed significant improvements in symptom control and quality of life in her patients that she has started on these. She has given many talks on exocrine pancreatic insufficiency to health professionals and is working on publishing two case studies about two of her recurrent pancreatic cancer patient's experiences with using pancreatic enzyme cartridges with their tube feedings.

Whitney has written a blog for Today's Dietitian titled PERT in Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer which discusses the important role of the dietitian in assessing these patients for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Whitney is also the Strategic Communications Chair for the ON DPG. In addition, she recently helped co-author an educational booklet on cholangiocarcinoma with several other oncology dietitians through the ON DPG and Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation.

Whitney resides in King George, Va. with her husband and two children. She enjoys yoga, sometimes running and describes herself as a self-proclaimed nutrition nerd.