Pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. An underreported disease whose severity is often unappreciated
R. Stanten and C. F. Frey
Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento 95817.
We describe our experience between 1985 and 1989 with 24 patients with
clinically significant pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde
cholangiopancreatography. The resulting pancreatitis was categorized into
three groups, all requiring hospitalization: (1) mild pancreatitis (n =
12); (2) moderate pancreatitis requiring aggressive evaluation, treatment,
and follow-up (n = 6); and (3) severe pancreatitis requiring surgical
therapy (n = 6). The average length of hospitalization for the entire group
was 12.8 days. Surgical intervention was required in 5 patients, and 3
patients died of acute necrotizing pancreatitis with sepsis, adult
respiratory distress syndrome, and intractable hemodynamic failure. Our
experience with this entity suggests that this form of pancreatitis
includes severe and even lethal outcomes. It was associated with a
mortality of 13%.
