Acute pancreatitis. Review article

Abstract

Abstract: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is defined as an acute inflammatory process of the pancreas which can compromise other organs and tissues. The diagnosis requires at least 2 of the following characteristics: moderate to severe abdominal pain, accompanied by nausea and vomiting; biochemical evidence of pancreatitis and/or imaging evidence through dynamic computed axial tomography (TACD) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pancreas. It is the most common acute gastrointestinal disease that requires hospital admission, with a favorable evolution in most cases (80%). However, necrotizing pancreatitis can develop in up to 20% of patients and is associated with significant rates of early organ failure (38%). Metabolic disorders and fasting compromise the nutritional status which could aggravate the course of the disease, therefore the route of administration of nutritional therapy has been shown to have an impact on the evolution of patients. There is now a better definition of which AP patients need aggressive nutritional therapy and which are likely to benefit from early enteral nutrition.

Keywords: acute pancreatitis, early enteral nutrition.