Aims: Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas and may be limited to the pancreas or may affect many organs and result in death. Different theories have been proposed in its pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to discuss the demographic characteristics, etiological causes and clinical features of patients with acute pancreatitis, whose frequency is not known in our country but which we see frequently in our daily practice. Methods: The files of patients admitted to the gastroenterology clinic between May 2005 and May 2014 and diagnosed with acute pancreatitis were retrospectively reviewed. Age, gender, mode of presentation, cause of acute pancreatitis, clinical features and prognosis were analysed. Results: A total of 630 patients were retrospectively analysed. Of the 630 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, 289 (45.9%) were male and 341 (54.1%) were female. The mean age was 55.58±17.4 years. The most common etiological cause was biliary causes in 420 (66.7%) patients. The most common reason for presentation was abdominal pain and nausea and vomiting in 415 (65.9%) patients. The most common presentation (28%) was in the spring season. 614 (97.4%) patients were discharged with recovery and 16 (2.6%) patients died. It was found that 3 methods (Ranson, APACHE, Atlanta) used in prognosis determination gave similar results. Conclusion: Acute pancreatitis, which can be a mortal disease, has different etiological factors and the most common etiological factor is biliary origin. Abdominal ultrasonography is a valuable method in the detection of biliary pathologies. The most common presentation is abdominal pain accompanied by nausea and vomiting. It was observed that different scoring systems did not differ from each other.
Ipek et al. (Fri,) studied this question.