Objective: To investigate and obtain a more comprehensive view of the etiology and clinical features of acute pancreatitis (AP) in Shandong Province.
Methods: 1471 cases admitted to hospital for AP were studied and collected from the ten cities of Shandong Province from January 1992 to December 2002 retrospectively. Data of each enrolled patient was recorded in a standardized form.
Results: In the 1471 patients, the ratio of male: female was 854:617, and also the mean age of them and the range was 43.3 and from 13 - 82 years old. 1280 had mild AP, and 191 had sever AP. Cholelithiasis (20.2%), alcohol (17.3%) and diet-induced (12.4%) were the most frequent etiologic factors, followed by biliary tract infections (5.6%), hyperlipemia (2.3%), other factors (5.1%). But in about 36.1% cases, the etiology of AP still remains unexplained. In coastal regions, cholelithiasis is the most frequent factor but in interior regions alcohol ranked first. In male, a small predominance of alcohol over cholelithiasis was seen (27.4 vs.14.3%, P < 0.01); and in female, there was a clear predominance of cholelithiasis over alcohol (28.4 vs. 3.2%, P < 0.01). The complications of AP were pancreatic pseudocyst, ascites and peritonitis, pulmonary infections, multiple organ failure, diabetes mellitus-2 and shock, etc. according to their frequencies.
Conclusions: Cholelithiasis, alcohol and diet-induced factor were main etiologic factors in Shandong Province, whereas cholelithiasis alone predominated in the females. In about 36.1% cases, the etiology remains unknown. So that more attention should be paid to study the etiology of AP.