Towards evidence based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Serum amylase or lipase to diagnose pancreatitis in patients presenting with abdominal pain.

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether serum amylase was better than serum lipase in the diagnosis of pancreatitis in patients presenting with abdominal pain. Altogether 320 papers were found using the reported search, of which seven presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date, and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.