The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis

The clinical course of an episode of acute pancreatitis varies from a mild, transitory form to a severe necrotizing form characterized by multisystem organ failure and mortality in 20% to 40% of cases. Mild pancreatitis does not need specialized treatment, and surgery is necessary only to treat unde...

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Main Authors: Beat Gloor, Waldemar Uhl, Christophe A Müller, Markus W Büchler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2000-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2000/710910
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author Beat Gloor
Waldemar Uhl
Christophe A Müller
Markus W Büchler
author_facet Beat Gloor
Waldemar Uhl
Christophe A Müller
Markus W Büchler
author_sort Beat Gloor
collection DOAJ
description The clinical course of an episode of acute pancreatitis varies from a mild, transitory form to a severe necrotizing form characterized by multisystem organ failure and mortality in 20% to 40% of cases. Mild pancreatitis does not need specialized treatment, and surgery is necessary only to treat underlying mechanical factors such as gallstones or tumours at the papilla of Vater. On the other hand, patients with severe necrotizing pancreatitis need to be identified as early as possible after the onset of symptoms to start intensive care treatment. In this subgroup of patients, approximately 15% to 20% of all patients with acute pancreatitis, stratification according to infection status is crucial. Patients with infected necrosis must undergo surgical intervention, which consists of an organpreserving necrosectomy followed by postoperative lavage and/or drainage to evacuate necrotic debris, which appears during the further course of the condition. Primary intensive care treatment, including antibiotic treatment, delays the need for surgery in most patients until the third or fourth week after the onset of symptoms. At that time, necrosectomy is technically easier to perform and the bleeding risk is reduced, compared with necrosectomy earlier in the disease course. In patients with sterile necrosis, the available data strongly support a conservative approach (ie, intensive care unit treatment). Surgery is rarely necessary in these patients.
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spelling doaj-art-4df7500d25d1476aac06134bac026b4a2025-02-03T01:11:34ZengWileyCanadian Journal of Gastroenterology0835-79002000-01-0114Suppl D136D140D10.1155/2000/710910The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute PancreatitisBeat Gloor0Waldemar Uhl1Christophe A Müller2Markus W Büchler3Department Visceral and Transplantion Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment Visceral and Transplantion Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment Visceral and Transplantion Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment Visceral and Transplantion Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandThe clinical course of an episode of acute pancreatitis varies from a mild, transitory form to a severe necrotizing form characterized by multisystem organ failure and mortality in 20% to 40% of cases. Mild pancreatitis does not need specialized treatment, and surgery is necessary only to treat underlying mechanical factors such as gallstones or tumours at the papilla of Vater. On the other hand, patients with severe necrotizing pancreatitis need to be identified as early as possible after the onset of symptoms to start intensive care treatment. In this subgroup of patients, approximately 15% to 20% of all patients with acute pancreatitis, stratification according to infection status is crucial. Patients with infected necrosis must undergo surgical intervention, which consists of an organpreserving necrosectomy followed by postoperative lavage and/or drainage to evacuate necrotic debris, which appears during the further course of the condition. Primary intensive care treatment, including antibiotic treatment, delays the need for surgery in most patients until the third or fourth week after the onset of symptoms. At that time, necrosectomy is technically easier to perform and the bleeding risk is reduced, compared with necrosectomy earlier in the disease course. In patients with sterile necrosis, the available data strongly support a conservative approach (ie, intensive care unit treatment). Surgery is rarely necessary in these patients.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2000/710910
spellingShingle Beat Gloor
Waldemar Uhl
Christophe A Müller
Markus W Büchler
The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
title The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis
title_full The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis
title_fullStr The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis
title_short The Role of Surgery in the Management of Acute Pancreatitis
title_sort role of surgery in the management of acute pancreatitis
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2000/710910
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