Diagnostic and Therapeutic Problems of Acute Pancreatitis

Of all abdominal emergencies acute pancreatitis is the one about which least is known, the one where a surgeon\u27s judgement is very well tested and the one which is probably most commonly missed. The many articles published in medical. literature on this subject attest to the fact .that it is one of great interest. In the past 20 years considerable work has been done on the pathogenesis and etiological factors of acute pancreatitis as well as in situations of the proper therapeutic procedure. to be used in the disease. However there are still several schools of thought about many aspects of acute pancreatitis. An attempt will be made to correlate the physiology- of the pancreas with the local and systemic changes seen in pancreatitis. The etiological factors will be evaluated and the mechanism of their action will be presented. The pathological anatomy will be correlated with the physical and laboratory findings and in this manner conclusions will be drawn as to the proper therapeutic measures to be used in a given case