Publication:

Study of parameters associated with severity of acute pancreatitis

Background Acute pancreatitis is a condition associated with a lot of morbidity. There are several scoring systems that predict the severity of acute pancreatitis, but none are perfect. The aim of this study is to study the various predictors of severity know the association of the parameters with severity of disease.

Methods Our study is a prospective observational study conducted on 80 consecutive patients who presented with features of acute pancreatitis between 20-80 years age group, attending the department of General Surgery, Sree Gokulam Medical College and research foundation, Venjaramoodu, Trivandrum during the period of November 2012 to May 2014. The obtained data was uploaded in Microsoft excel sheet and analysed. Finally, all these variables were correlated with the severity of the disease to find out the association and significance using appropriate statistical methods like Pearson Chi-square test, ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis test.

Results In our study 59 (74%) were males and mean age was 45.78. Pulse rate, total count C-reactive protein, serum amylase, lipase, Low density lipoprotein (LDH), pH, calcium, lowering of haematocrit, Computerized tomography severity index (CTSI) and Ranson’s score had significant association with severity of pancreatitis.

Conclusions One should not wait for any single scoring system to get scored for effective treatment. A diagnosis of pancreatitis should be made using clinical, laboratory and radiological means and treatment in the form of aggressive crystalloid resuscitation should be started with intensive care monitoring at the earliest.