The severity and outcomes in acute pancreatitis do not differ between the elderly and non-elderly patients: Experience in a clinical tertiary center

Background

Acute pancreatitis can affect elderly people. Conflicting results have been published regarding the role of age in the course of this life-threatening disease.

Aim

To assess the clinical outcomes of acute pancreatitis in geriatric population compared to younger patients.

Patients and methods

retrospective observational study which includes patients admitted for acute pancreatitis to our Unit between 2014 and 2022. Two groups were created and compared, elderly patients (≥65 years) and young patients (<65 years). Clinical, demographic, analytical and radiological data were obtained from both cohorts. Primary endpoint was comparison of severity among both groups. Secondary endpoints included organ failure, local and systemic complications, length of hospital stay, intensive care unit admission, procedural interventions and mortality. Univariate and logistic regression were performed. A propensity score analysis was also used to minimize selection bias.

Results

We analysed 832 patients (546 ≥65 years and 286 patients <65 years). A higher mortality rate (4.95% vs. 1.05%, p = 0.004), organ failure (12.82% vs. 6.29%, p = 0.004) and systemic complications (21.25% vs. 14.34%, p = 0.016) were observed in the elderly group on univariate analysis; however, multivariate logistic regression analysis and propensity score matched analysis failed to detect any differences among both groups.

Conclusions

In our series patients ≥65 years-old did not suffered from more severe episodes of acute pancreatitis. In our study, age was not associated with worse clinical outcomes.