Early Risk Stratification in Acute Pancreatitis: The Role of Biochemical and Hematological Parameters

Acute pancreatitis (AP) represents an inflammatory condition,-with a wide spectrum of local and systemic complications. Early stratification of severity of pancreatitis is an important step in guiding the management of the disease and improving outcomes. Throughout the years many researchers have looked at various risk stratification parameters which could be used from the admission of patients, however current available scores are cumbersome.

Our aim was to evaluate the role of biochemical and hematological parameters in the early stratification of severity of AP, regarding the length of hospitalization.

We conducted an observational study which included 100 patients with AP admitted to the Gastroenterology Department over a period 18 months. AP diagnosis was set according to 2013 ACG criteria. Demographic, clinical and imaging data related to the pancreatitis flare were collected from their charts. Length of hospital stay was used as surrogate marker for severity of AP. We evaluated different biochemical and hematological parameters which influenced the length of hospitalization.

Several hematological parameters and ratio did not correlate with length of hospital stay in our study cohort, however there was a significant relation of hyperglycemia and alkaline phosphatase levels with hospitalization duration.

Early risk stratification in AP remains difficult with routine blood work done at admission. Glycemic control and serum level of alkaline phosphatase seems to be correlated with length of hospital stay.