ABSTRACT
What Is the Epidemiology and Demongraphics of Patients with Acute Pancreartitis? Patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) can present with a wide degree of severity of illness, from the very mild presentation with epigastric pain and mild nausea, to a severe form of pancreatitis with alterations of vital signs, high fevers, tachycardia, hypotension from intravascular volume depletion, or respiratory embarrassment.(1-3) While the latter description is much like the patient presented earlier, patients with severe AP account for approximately 20% of all patients who present with AP.(1, 3) Patients with severe acute and often necrotizing pancreatititis typically require intensive monitoring, and often intensive care interventions. On the other hand, patients with the milder form of AP may not even require admission to the hospital. This less ill group of patients is easily recognizable to the experienced clinician. When considering all patients who present with AP, the overall mortality is about 1.5 deaths/100,000 person years.(1) While the overall incidence of AP does vary between and within countries, the incidence of this disease overall is about 16-40 per 100,000 patients.(1, 3) In some countries, such as Scotland, the incidence of AP has been increasing.(3, 4) The specific reason for this increase is not known.
