Acute pancreatitis in Chile: A multicenter study on epidemiology, etiology and clinical outcome. Retrospective analysis of clinical files.

BACKGROUND:Epidemiology of acute pancreatitis (AP) is variable in different geographical regions. OBJECTIVES:To compare etiology and severity of AP to published data from South America and the rest of world, study impact of demographical factors and treatment on its outcome in Chilean hospitals. METHODS:Multicenter observational study. Data of consecutive patients with AP were collected at the moment of discharge from 11 centers and retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS:Data of 962 patients were included in the analysis, 447 men and 515 women. Mean age was 48,2 years. Biliary etiology was significantly more frequent in women (70%) than in men (52%). Conversely, alcohol was responsible for about 17% of AP in men but exceptional in women. Mild AP was seen in 73.4%, moderately severe in 14.1% and severe in 13%. The overall mortality was 2.5% (24 of 962): 0.3%, 3.1% and 15.1% in mild, moderately severe and severe cases, respectively. No difference was found in the mortality and severity of biliary versus alcoholic AP, while hypertriglyceridemia induced AP was more severe, without increased mortality. Severity and mortality increased with age. ERCP was performed in 16% of biliary pancreatitis. Adherence to main guidelines was heterogeneous: more than half of mild AP patients were admitted to critical care units and antibiotics were used in about 25% them. CONCLUSION:This is the first multicenter study in Chile on AP. When compared to literature, we found similar severity distribution and an acceptably low mortality. Biliary etiology was dominant, but alcohol was also important in men.