Acute Pancreatitis

Publication Date: March 1, 2018

Key Points

Key Points

  • Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory condition of the pancreas that can cause local injury, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and organ failure.
  • The incidence of AP ranges from 5–30 cases per 100,000, and there is evidence that the incidence is rising in recent years.
  • The overall case fatality rate for AP is roughly 5% and is expectedly higher for more severe disease.
  • The most common causes of AP remain gallstones and alcohol, which together comprise 80% of cases. The remainder of cases is due to less common causes, including drug reactions, pancreatic solid and cystic malignancies, and hypertriglyceridemia.
  • Patients with AP frequently suffer from abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.
  • The diagnosis of AP requires ≥2 of the following features:
    • Characteristic abdominal pain
    • Biochemical evidence of pancreatitis (i.e. amylase or lipase elevated >3 times the upper limit of normal) and/or
    • Radiographic evidence of pancreatitis on cross-sectional imaging

Treatment

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Summary of...

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