Rowan W. Parks

BACKGROUND: Mortality in patients with acute pancreatitis is associated with the number of failing organs and the severity and reversibility of organ dysfunction. The aim of this study was to assess the significance of early systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in the development of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and death from acute pancreatitis. METHODS: Data for all patients with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis between January 2000 and December 2004 were reviewed. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP), Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores and presence of SIRS were recorded on admission and at 48 h. Marshall organ dysfunction scores were calculated during the first week of presentation. Presence of SIRS and raised serum CRP levels on admission and at 48 h were correlated with the cumulative organ dysfunction scores in the first week. RESULTS: A total of 759 patients with acute pancreatitis were identified, of whom 45 (5.9 per cent) died during the index admission. SIRS was identified in 162 patients on admission and was persistent in 138 at 48 h. The median (range) cumulative Marshall score in patients with persistent SIRS was significantly higher than that in patients in whom SIRS resolved and in those with no SIRS (4 (0-12), 3 (0-7) and 0 (0-9) respectively; P < 0.001). Thirty-five patients (25.4 per cent) with persistent SIRS died from acute pancreatitis, compared with six patients (8 per cent) with transient SIRS and four (0.7 per cent) without SIRS (P < 0.001). No correlation was observed between CRP level on admission and Marshall score (P = 0.810); however, there was a close correlation between CRP level at 48 h and Marshall score (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Persistent SIRS is associated with MODS and death in patients with acute pancreatitis and is an early indicator of the likely severity of acute pancreatitis.

The last 30 years have seen major developments in the management of gallstone-related disease, which in the United States alone costs over 6 billion dollars per annum to treat. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has become a widely available and routine procedure, whilst open cholecystectomy has largely been replaced by a laparoscopic approach, which may or may not include laparoscopic exploration of the common bile duct (LCBDE). In addition, new imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance cholangiography (MR) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) offer the opportunity to accurately visualise the biliary system without instrumentation of the ducts. As a consequence clinicians are now faced with a number of potentially valid options for managing patients with suspected CBDS. It is with this in mind that the following guidelines have been written.