Diagnostic imaging procedures of the pancreas have been revolutionized in recent years by the introduction of sonography and computed tomography. We compared the previous literatures of actue pancreatitis which did not use ultrasonography and for
the
early detection of complications. A cliical observation was made on the 175 cases of the acute pancreatitis confirmed and treated at the Pusan Adventist Hospital as in patients during the 6 years period from March, 1988 to December, 1993. The
possible
etiologic factors of the disease seen in descending order were unknown origin(44.6%), alcohol(26.9%), biliary tract disease(9.7%), overeating(69%) and peptic ulcer(6.3%). The patients complained of upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever
with
chills in order. The most commonly observed physical sign was tenderness in the upper abdomen. In the radiologic studies, we observed pancreatic enlargement(83.6%), phlegmon formation(18.2%) and pseudocyst(9.1%) by the ultrasonic examination and
enlargement of pancreas(100%), obliteration of fat plane(76.5%), extrapancreatic phlegmonous mass(29.4%), ascites(20.7%) and pseudocyst(14.7%) using the computed tomography. The complications were phlegmon formation, ascites, pseudocyst, shock,
atelectasis, septicemia and acute renal failure. The mortality rate during the hospitalization was in 1.7% and the main causes of death were due to septicemia and renal failure.
In conclusion, we observed the frequency of complications of acute pancreatitis were higher than the previous studies because of using the advanced diagnostic imaging tools. (Korean J Gastroenterol 1994 ; 26 : 995~1001)
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