Editor’s preface for the special issue “ACUTE PANCREATITIS”

Abstract

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders requiring acute hospitalization, with an annual incidence of 13 45 cases per 100,000 persons. Most of the cases are mild pancreatitis with low morbidity and mortality but severe AP is associated with mortality up to 30%. Many physicians are involved in the treatment of patients with AP (radiology, gastroenterology, surgery, endocrinology, ICU, ... ) and the need of multidisciplinary approach is crucial in AP. The information about AP in medical databases is large. The search “acute pancreatitis” in PubMed shows 26479 published papers. An up-to-date evidence-based treatment is needed to offer our patients the best treatment and reduce health costs but so much information sometimes does not help. The authors of this Special Issue have tried to review and update the most crucial aspects of AP: etiology, new classifications, biological and severity markers, use of antibiotics and nutrition, most recent surgical techniques, and information given in guidelines and evidence-based medicine. I thank their efforts to perform these papers. Cent. Eur. J. Med. • 9(4) • 2014 • 529 DOI: 10.2478/s11536-013-0346-3