Pancreatitis aguda

Abstract

The present review discusses eight studies, selected for their clinical importance in the field of acute pancreatitis (AP). A multicenter clinical trial demonstrated that treatment of infected pancreatic necrosis through drainage, followed by video-assisted retroperitoneal debridement in patients with poor clinical course, was superior to classical open surgery in terms of costs and complications. A retrospective study analyzed the radiation from computed tomography received by patients with necrotizing AP and warned of the high dose administered, which could have significant carcinogenic effects. A multicenter retrospective study confirmed the utility of measuring blood urea nitrogen at admission and at 24 hours in predicting mortality due to AP. A prospective study of fluid therapy reported that inadequate or excess fluid administration in the first 24 hours of admission were related to poor outcome. Two studies analyzed the bedside index for severity in AP (BISAP) score at admission; this scoring system was useful in AP in general but not in the subgroup of patients requiring admission to the intensive care unit. Lastly, two studies showed the highly promising prognostic value of determining serum concentrations of angiogenic factors in AP.