Severe acute pancreatitis in aged patients:a clinical analysis of 78 cases

Objective:To study the clinical features of severe acute pancreatitis(SAP) in aged patients. Methods: The clinical data of 78 aged patients(55-84 years old) with SAP were analyzed and compared with those of 107 young SAP patients(22-54 years old) hospitalized in our hospital over the past 10 years. Results: Most aged patients were associated either with gall stones or idiopathy and chronic diseases, especially hypertension. The incidences of all kinds of clinical symtoms in aged SAP patients were lower than those of the yound SAP patients (P0.05). APACHE Ⅱ(24、48 h) and Ranson scores of aged SAP patients were higher than those of the control group(P0.05). The incidences of local complications and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome of aged cases were obvious higher than those of the control group(P0.05). There was no significant difference in mortality and cause of death between the 2 groups. Conclusion: In China, gall stone is the most common cause of SAP which lacks characteristic clinical symptoms and is often with complications, making diagnosis and treatment difficult.