Evaluation of Factors Leading to the Development of Acute Pancreatitis at Tertiary Care Hospital, Karachi

Acute pancreatitis (AP) involves pancreatic inflammation that may extend to surrounding tissues. Clinical outcomes can be predicted through assessment of disease-specific prognostic markers. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of etiological factors for AP among patients at a tertiary healthcare center in Karachi. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design, this six-month study was conducted in the Medicine Department of Civil Hospital, Karachi, from 06-08-2022 to 05-02-2023. Participants were selected through convenience sampling (a non-probability approach). Data processing was done by SPSS version 26.0. Chi-square test was applied by taking a p-value of ≤ 0.05, which is significant. Results: The research cohort comprised 135 eligible participants with a mean age of 46.71 ± 6.82 years. Gender distribution showed 55 male patients (40.7%) and 80 female patients (59.3%). Out of the 135 patients, 43.7% had cholelithiasis, 11.1% had alcohol induced pancreatitis, 17.8% had post-ERCP pancreatitis, 14.8% had hypertriglyceridemia, and 10.4% had IgG4-mediated pancreatitis. Conclusions: Acute pancreatitis is a multi-factorial pathology of different severity and outcomes. Gallstones were found to be the most prevalent cause of the condition.