Prem Anandh1, Arcot Rekha2
BACKGROUND
Pancreatitis is a common cause of abdominal pain in the emergency room. Serum amylase and lipase are the initial screening investigations. A rapid urine analysis by a dipstick to detect urinary trypsinogen is a good screening test.
MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY
This study was conducted after obtaining the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) clearance, Reference No.: CSP -MED/14/FEB12/50. Informed consent was obtained from all study participants and ICH/GCP guidelines were followed. The present prospective study was done during the period of June 2013 to October 2015, which involved a group of 98 patients with upper abdominal pain (Reporting within 36 hours of onset of pain) who came to the Department of Surgery of Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute.
RESULTS
A total of 98 consecutive patients with upper abdominal pain who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria were enrolled in the study during the period of June 2013 - October 2015. When we analysed the patients with upper abdominal pain we found that in the age group 21-30, there were 22 patients (22.9%); in 31-40 years, there were 28 patients (29.2%); in 41-50 years, there were 17 patients (17.7%); in 51-60 years, there were 18 patients (18.8%); and in between 61-70 years, there were 11 patients (11.5%) of study group (1, 2).
CONCLUSIONS
The analysis of the demographics of our study showed that 40.8% of acute upper abdominal pains were due to acute pancreatitis and 59.2% were non-pancreatic in origin. Male Patients accounted for 75.0% and 65.5% respectively in the acute pancreatitis and non-pancreatic groups. In both acute pancreatitis and non-pancreatic groups, major clustering of patients was seen in the age group of 31-40 yrs.
