Acute Pancreatitis Santhi Swaroop Vege, MD, and Todd H. Baron, Sr., MD

Approximately 210,000 new cases of acute pancreatitis occur annually in the United States, and its incidence is increasing in and outside this country. Of the new cases, about 80% are the interstitial (edematous) variety and the other 20% are the necrotizing variety. Necrotizing pancreatitis accounts for most of the morbidity and nearly all the mortality associated with acute pancreatitis.