Summary
Methods. A retrospective review was conducted of 105 patients admitted to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary with the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis over a 2-yr period (January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1997).
Results. Six patients admitted during the study period died with a mortality rate of 5.7%. All patients died within 6 d of admission and received care in the intensive care unit. All presented with serious comorbid medical problems and/or developed early multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Ten patients underwent pancreatic necrosectomy with no mortality.
Conclusion. In patients with acute pancreatitis, late “septic” deaths resulting from infection of pancreatic tissue can be avoided, but some early deaths are unavoidable owing to serious multiorgan dysfunction often combined with age or other comorbid conditions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Steinberg W, Tenner S. Acute pancreatitis. New Engl J Med 1994; 330: 1198–1210.
Banerjee AK, Kaul A, Beach E, Parberry AC, Doran J, Nicholson ML. An audit of fatal acute pancreatitis. Postgrad Med J 1995; 71: 472–475.
Mann DV, Hershman MJ, Hittinger R., Glazer G. Multicentre audit of death from acute pancreatitis. Br J Surg 1994; 81: 890–893.
de Beaux AC, Palmer KR, Carter DC. Factors influencing morbidity and mortality in acute pancreatitis; an analysis of 279 cases. Gut 1995; 37: 121–126.
Blamey SL, Imrie CW, O’Neil J, Gilmour WH, Carter DC. Prognostic factors in acute pancreatitis. Gut 1984; 25: 1340–1346.
Leese T, Shaw D. Comparison of three Glasgow multifactor prognstic scoring systems in acute pancreatitis. Br J Surg 1988; 75: 460–462.
Renner IG, Savage WT III, Pantoja JL, Renner VJ. Death due to acute pancreatitis: a retrospective analysis of 405 autopsy cases. Dig Dis Sci 1985; 30: 1005–1018.
Tran DD, Cuesta MA, Schneider AJ, Wesdorp RI. Prevalence and prediction of multiple organ system failure and mortality in acute pancreatitis. J Crit Care 1993; 8: 145–153.
Bradley EL III, Allen K. A prospective longitudinal study of observation versus surgical intervention in the management of necrotizing pancreatitis. Am J Surg 1991; 161: 19–25.
Howard TJ, Wiebke EA, Mogavero G, Kopecky K, et al. Classification and treatment of local septic complications in acute pancreatitis. Am J Surg 1995; 170: 44–50.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lowham, A., Lavelle, J. & Leese, T. Mortality from acute pancreatitis. International Journal of Pancreatology 25, 103–106 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1385/IJGC:25:2:103
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/IJGC:25:2:103