Acute and chronic pancreatitis — diseases on the rise: a study of hospital admissions in England 1989/90–1999/2000

Abstract

Summary Background: The number of hospital admissions for acute and chronic pancreatitis increased in Britain from the 1960s to the 1980s. Aims: To determine time trends in acute and chronic pancreatitis for hospital admissions from 1989/90 to 1999/2000, mortality from 1979 to 1999, and various indices of alcohol consumption. Methods: Hospital Episode Statistics for admissions were obtained from the Department of Health and mortality data from the Office for National Statistics. Alcohol consumption data were obtained from the General Household Survey. Results: Between 1989/90 and 1999/2000, age‐standardized hospital admission rates for acute pancreatitis increased by 43%, whilst those for chronic pancreatitis rose by 100%. The proportions of admissions requiring surgical operations increased for acute pancreatitis, but declined for chronic pancreatitis. Case fatality rates for acute pancreatitis declined, but mortality statistics showed no significant change. The proportion of women who drank more than 14 units of alcohol a week also increased. Conclusions: There has been a steady increase in admission rates for both acute and chronic pancreatitis over the study period, and these conditions will become an increasingly important part of the workload of the gastroenterologist.

Analysing the Role of Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Acute Pancreatitis and in Grading its Severity

“…The incidence in Europe and United states ranges from 20 to over 70 per 100,000 population. 2,3 Computed tomography gives a global picture of the pathology and complications of acute pancreatitis. CT has the advantages over other imaging techniques that it is accurate in establishing the diagnosis, and in assessing for complications.…”

Etiology of acute pancreatitis

“…Over the last four decades, the overall incidence of acute pancreatitis seems to be increasing, not only in the United States, but also in different European countries: England,Scotland,Denmark,Sweden, Finland,Germany and the Netherlands [1,[3][4][5].…”

“…In the Netherlands the incidence of acute pancreatitis increased by 28% between 1985 and 1995 .In the United Kingdom the incidence of acute pancreatitis rised by a factor of ten from 1960 to the 80s [5]. Population studies from Europe and the United States have described the epidemiology of first attacks of acute pancreatitis, mostly in a retrospective way; only few report etiology-specific incidence trends.…”

“…Reports from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Finland indicate an increase in alcoholic pancreatitis correlating with an increase in the per capita alcohol consumption [5,7,8].…”

History and Evolution of the Management of Acute Pancreatitis

“…During the 35-year period of the study, the mortality rate for acute pancreatitis remained relatively stable at approximately 5% (3). Another study from England also reported an increase in the incidence of acute and chronic pancreatitis from 14.5 per 100 000 to 20.7 POLSKI PRZEGLĄD CHIRURGICZNY 10.2478/v10035-007-0036-4 2007, 79,3,[239][240][241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251][252][253][254][255] per 100 000 over the 10-year period between 1990 and 2000 (7).…”