Impact of obesity on the severity, outcome and complications of acute pancreatitis

The OBJECTIVE was to study the effect of obesity on the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP), its outcome and complications.

METHODS AND MATERIALS. The study included 212 patients with AP. Among the patients, 58 % (n=123) were men, and 42 % (n=89) were women. The severity of AP was mild in 63.2 %, moderate in 21.7 % and severe (SAP) in 15.1 % of cases. The average age of the patients was 52 years. Organ failure (both transient and persistent) was present in 20.3 % of all cases of AP, in 52.3 % of patients with moderate AP and in 59.4 % with SAP. The total mortality rate was 6.6 %, with mild and moderate AP, no deaths were noted, whereas with severe AP, the mortality rate was 43.8 %. The method of calculating body mass index (BMI) was used to diagnose obesity. The presence of obesity was noted at BMI of≥30 kg/m2. The number of obese patients was 39.6 % of all patients with AP. The Mann – Whitney U-test was used to compare patient groups. The criterion χ2 was used to compare the proportions of patients in different groups.

RESULTS. When studying the average BMI and the proportion of obese patients, there were no significant differences in their values depending on the severity of AP. There were also no significant differences in the value of the average BMI and the proportion of obese patients in survivors and deceased patients with AP, as well as in survivors and deceased patients with SAP. Whereas, the surviving patients showed significant differences in the value of the average BMI and in the proportion of obese patients. There were no significant differences in the values of the average BMI and the proportion of obese patients in the groups of patients with OP without and with complications.

CONCLUSION. Obesity does not significantly influence on the severity and frequency of complications in patients with AP.

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