Surgical treatment of acute pancreatitis.

The most important diagnostic step in the management of patients with severe acute pancreatitis is discrimination between interstitial-oedematous and necrotizing pancreatitis. Surgical decision-making is based on clinical, bacteriological and contrast-enhanced CT-data. Persisting or progressive systemic or local organ complications occurring despite ICU-treatment are indicators for surgical management. Patients suffering from sepsis syndrome, cardiovascular shock, multisystemic organ failure syndrome, surgical acute abdomen and persisting or progressing ileus should be treated surgically. The surgical technique is based on careful necrosectomy or debridement in combination with continuous or repeated surgical evacuation of necrotic tissue, bacteria and biologically active compounds. Necrosectomy and postoperative continuous local lavage resulted in a hospital mortality of 17% in necrotizing pancreatitis, conservative management of necrotizing pancreatitis in a hospital mortality of 6.3%. In 1442 patients treated in a 14-year period the overall hospital mortality was 4.4%.