“Acute pancreatitis after operation on the biliary tract is a serious complication. This study was undertaken in an attempt to determine predisposing factors which might exist in patients undergoing operation for biliary tract disease. A large number of patients have been studied by postoperative serum amylase determinations and correlations have been made between the performance of various procedures and the occurrence of clinical and subclinical pancreatitis.”
“Acute pancreatitis is the most common pancreatic disease worldwide. Necrotizing pancreatitis develops in approximately 20 to 30% of patients with acute pancreatitis. Pancreatic and peripancreatic necrosis that becomes infected nearly always leads
to invasive intervention. The current standard approach for infected necrotizing pancreatitis is a minimally invasive step-up approach with catheter drainage as the first step. International guidelines advise postponement of catheter drainage and administration of antibiotics until the infected pancreatic and peripancreatic necrosis has become encapsulated; such walled-off necrosis usually takes 4 weeks to develop.”
“Pancreatic necrosis is the most devastating complication of acute pancreatitis. Management of this complex disease has improved dramatically over the past decade, and mortality rates are regularly reported in the range of 20% instead of the 50% to 70% range reported in the 1970s. Despite this improvement, 80% of deaths from acute pancreatitis evolve from infectious complications of pancreatic and peripancreatic necrosis.”
“Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a progressive fibro-inflammatory disease of the pancreas leading to irreversible parenchymal damage with gradual loss of exocrine and endocrine functions. The most common and debilitating manifestation of this disease is intractable pain which may lead to loss of work, unemployment, narcotic dependence, and impairment of the quality of life (QOL). About 30–50% of patients with CP will require surgery during their life time.2,3 Several surgical procedures have been described in the literature, and these are broadly classified as drainage, resectional or a combination of the two. Each respective
procedure is chosen based on the degree of pancreatic ductal dilatation, glandular morphology, local complications, and to some extent on the experience and preference of the surgeon. The Frey procedure (FP) has emerged over the past 30 years as one of the most commonly performed operations for painful CP associated with enlarged pancreatic head. The procedure results in substantial and sustained pain relief in the majority of patients. Like other major operations, FP also is associated with several post operative complications.”
“Acute pancreatitis is the most common post-procedural complication following endoscopic retrogrande cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Its incidence is reported between 2.1% and 24.4%, with such variability being attributable to heterogeneous patient populations, differing levels of endoscopic expertise, procedural differences, disparate definitions of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) and its severity”
“The pathophysiology of PEP is not entirely clear with a multi-factorial concept being held. This involves a combination of chemical, thermal, mechanic, hydrostatic, enzymatic, allergic, and microbiological insults that result from papillary instrumentation and/or hydrostatic injury
from the overfilling of the pancreatic duct with contrast material. The influence of these factors leads to a cascade of events resulting in premature intracellular activation
of pancreatic proteolytic enzymes, autodigestion, and the release of inflammatory cytokines that produce both local and systemic effects.”
Yadav D, Hawes RH, Brand RE, et al. Alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and the risk of recurrent acute and chronic pancreatitis. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Jun 8; 169(11):1035-45.
Figure 3. Distribution of self-reported smoking status (A) and amount (B) stratified by drinking categories. All proportions are based on effective numbers, and never smokers account for the proportions not reflected in the graphs. C indicates control group; CP, chronic pancreatitis group; RAP, recurrent acute pancreatitis group.
Chaitoff A, Cifu AS, Niforatos JD. Initial Management of Acute Pancreatitis. JAMA. 2020 May 7. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.2177. [Epub ahead of print]
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Surgical Focus 