N Al Hajjar1, C Iancu, R Bodea. 1. University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. na_hajjar@yahoo.com
Abstract
UNLABELLED: The title of "the great abdominal drama" attributed to acute pancreatitis is fully justified by the impressive clinical presentation, the deep consumptive character of physio-pathological processes taking place, the severity of the complications and the complexity of the treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of our study was to analyze the results on a number of 81 consecutive patients hospitalized in the Surgical Clinic III Cluj during 28 months, all diagnosed with severe forms of acute pancreatitis. There were two groups of patients, non-surgical (43 cases) and surgical cases (38 cases), respectively. The diagnosis and forms of the disease took into account the clinical picture, serum amylase, CPR and Balthazar procalcitonine,together with the classification of the lesions on CT scan. RESULTS: All patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and received supportive treatment such as antibiotics, pancreatic exocrine secretion inhibitors and proton pump inhibitors. The surgical act in the 38 cases was indicated by septic intra-abdominal pressure or high functionality threatening vital viscera. Intraoperatively the abscesses were drained, the necrotic areas were removed and cholecystectomy was performed in patients with biliary etiology. Statistically, we obtained significant differences in the incidence of complications between the group of patients operated and those not operated (p = 0.000048), but not in what concerns the length of hospitalization (p = 0.99999) and the number of deaths (p = 0.2102). The overall mortality was 14.41%, comparable to that found in the literature. In none of the patients CT guided drainage of collections was performed prior to surgery, which was a major drawback of the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the importance of an early diagnosis and medical treatment, the delayed surgery being required in high intra-abdominal pressure or SEPS. RevistaChirurgia.
UNLABELLED: The title of "the great abdominal drama" attributed to acute pancreatitis is fully justified by the impressive clinical presentation, the deep consumptive character of physio-pathological processes taking place, the severity of the complications and the complexity of the treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of our study was to analyze the results on a number of 81 consecutive patients hospitalized in the Surgical Clinic III Cluj during 28 months, all diagnosed with severe forms of acute pancreatitis. There were two groups of patients, non-surgical (43 cases) and surgical cases (38 cases), respectively. The diagnosis and forms of the disease took into account the clinical picture, serum amylase, CPR and Balthazar procalcitonine,together with the classification of the lesions on CT scan. RESULTS: All patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and received supportive treatment such as antibiotics, pancreatic exocrine secretion inhibitors and proton pump inhibitors. The surgical act in the 38 cases was indicated by septic intra-abdominal pressure or high functionality threatening vital viscera. Intraoperatively the abscesses were drained, the necrotic areas were removed and cholecystectomy was performed in patients with biliary etiology. Statistically, we obtained significant differences in the incidence of complications between the group of patients operated and those not operated (p = 0.000048), but not in what concerns the length of hospitalization (p = 0.99999) and the number of deaths (p = 0.2102). The overall mortality was 14.41%, comparable to that found in the literature. In none of the patients CT guided drainage of collections was performed prior to surgery, which was a major drawback of the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the importance of an early diagnosis and medical treatment, the delayed surgery being required in high intra-abdominal pressure or SEPS. RevistaChirurgia.