Rhana Hassan Zakri.
Acute pancreatitis: recent advances in diagnosis and management.
Ann Pak Inst Med Sci Jan ;2(4):215-7.

Acute pancreatitis is a protean disease resulting from an auto-digestion of the pancreas capable of wide clinical variation. It can be divided into two broad categories: oedematous and interstitial or mild acute pancreatitis; necrotizing or severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). SAP is a multi-system disease characterized in the first phase by multiple organ system failure consequent to a systemic inflammatory response and in the second by local pancreatic complications such as necrosis, abscess. or pseudocysts. Acute pancreatitis accounts for more than 220 000 hospital admissions in the United States each year. Epidemiological studies indicate that this incidence is increasing along with documented increases in obesity. 75-80% of cases. are self-limiting and subside spontaneously within five to seven days, but 20-25% of acute pancreatitis are severe with a mortality of 10-20%. This is a review article.

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