Prognostic intraoperative factors in severe acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is a serious disease. Triggered by the local inflammation of the pancreas, it can cause inflammation in various organs and systems in the body. It is important to identify severe forms of acute pancreatitis with an increased morbidity and mortality rate. Lately, internationally, numerous clinical and paraclinical factors predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis have been proposed. The purpose of the study is to identify the prognostic intraoperative factors of severity. The prospective study was conducted over a period of four years, between 2007 and 2010 and included 238 patients treated in a surgical clinic in Bucharest. 103 patients experienced a severe form of acute pancreatitis, which means 67.95% of all operations practiced. We monitored intraoperative factors, in particular: the presence and/ or the extent of pancreatic necrosis, common bile duct lithiasis and intraperitoneal fluid, parameters proposed to become statistically prognostic factors in the development and long-term morbidity of acute pancreatitis. The presence and/ or extension of necrosis was identified in the histopathology only in patients with severe acute pancreatitis. 71.43% of the patients with common bile duct lithiasis and 73.91% of the patients with inflammatory intraperitoneal fluid had severe acute pancreatitis. Most patients who developed postoperative complications (86.49%) or who required a surgical intervention (85.71%), presented a severe form of the disease. Conclusions: pancreatic necrosis, common bile duct lithiasis and intraperitoneal fluid may contribute to a more precise prediction of severity, as confirmed by international literature.