Surgical management of acute pancreatitis.

Acute pancreatitis is a formidable problem that infrequently necessitates surgical intervention. Indications for operation may be divided into four main categories: (1) uncertain diagnosis, (2) deteriorating condition, (3) biliary pancreatitis, and (4) pancreatic abscess. One of the most important contributions concerning acute pancreatitis has been the development of predictive criteria that allow quantitation of the severity of disease and precise comparison of various reported series. During a 2-year period, 222 patients with acute pancreatitis were seen at our institution, and 62 of these patients (28%) underwent operation. Biliary pancreatitis accounted for 63% of our cases. The overall mortality of 24% was directly related to the severity of the pancreatitis. Cholecystectomy, during the same hospital admission, is advised for treatment of biliary pancreatitis.