Abstract

Abstract Introduction Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a potentially life-threatening condition. The audit looks at its management and compares it versus the British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines. Method The study retrospectively assessed plans and results for patients with AP over 4 months. Targets were mortality rate below 10% (<30% for severe cases), correct diagnosis at 48h from admission, ultrasound examination of the gallbladder within 24h of diagnosis, severity stratification within 48h of diagnosis, cause established in over 80%, management involving intensive care settings for severe cases and definitive treatment of gallstone pancreatitis in less than 14 days. Results 34 patients were identified, 3(8.6%) had severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Mortality was 2.9% overall (33.3% in SAP). AP was diagnosed within 48h of presentation in all cases with severity stratification undertaken in 91.2%. Determination of aetiology was achieved in 82.4% with the rest documented as unknown/idiopathic/requiring further investigations post-discharge. Ultrasound studies were undertaken in 58.8% of cases but, as the hospital did not offer ultrasonography on the weekend, 41.2% actually had this type of imaging performed within 24h. Within those who did not have ultrasound at 24h, 50% had had computer tomography imaging. All SAP cases were discussed with intensivists and 7.1% of gallstone pancreatitis underwent definite treatment within 2 weeks. Conclusions Current practice in the hospital mostly meets the reference standards. However, the percentage undergoing definitive treatment of gallstone pancreatitis is low. We aim to re-audit in 4 months following meetings with local surgical leads to discuss implementation of a suitable pathway.

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