Epidemiological trends in acute pancreatitis: A retrospective cohort in a tertiary center over a seven year period

BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis (AP) remains a major cause of hospitalization and mortality with important health-related costs worldwide. Using an electronic database of a large tertiary center, we estimated the incidence, etiology, severity and costs of hospitalized AP cases in southern Romania. AIM: To estimate the incidence, cost and tobacco usage of hospitalized AP cases in southern Romania and to update and upgrade the knowledge we have on the etiology, severity (in regard to Revised Atlanta Classification), outcome, morphology and local complications of AP. METHODS: We performed an electronic health care records search on AP patients treated at Emergency University Hospital of Bucharest (Spitalul Universitar de Urgență București) between 2015 and 2022. The incidence, etiology, and severity were calculated; potential risk factors were evaluated, and the hospitalization costs of AP were documented and analyzed. The cohort of this study is part of the BUCharest - Acute Pancreatitis Index registry. RESULTS: A total of 947 consecutive episodes of AP where the patients were hospitalized in the gastroenterology department were analyzed, with 79.45% as 1(st) episode and the rest recurrent. The majority of the patients were males (68.9%). Alcoholic (45.7%), idiopathic (16.4%) and biliary (15.2%) were the main causes. The incidence was estimated at 29.2 episodes/100000 people. The median length of stay was 7 d. The median daily cost was 747.96 RON (165 EUR). There was a high prevalence of active tobacco smokers (68.5%). The prevalence of severe disease was 11.1%. The admission rate to the intensive care unit was 4.6%, with a mortality rate of 38.6%. The overall mortality was 5.5%. CONCLUSION: We estimated the incidence of AP at 29.2 episodes that required hospitalization per 100000 people. The majority of our cases were found in males (68.9%) and were related to alcohol abuse (45.7%). Out of the cases we were able to find data regarding tobacco usage, the majority were active smokers (68.5%). Most patients had a mild course (54.4%), with a mortality rate of 5.5%. Interstitial AP prevailed (45.3%). The median daily cost of hospitalization was 747.96 RON (165 EUR).