Acute Pancreatitis exam questions for medical finals, OSCEs and MRCP PACES
Question 1.
What are the causes of acute pancreatitis?
- I – Idiopathic (most common)
- G – Gallstones
- E – Ethanol
- T – Trauma
- S – Steroids
- M – Mumps
- A – Autoimmune (eg. PAN)
- S – Scorpion Venom – black Trinidadian scorpion (tityus trinitatis)
- H – Hyperlipidaemia, Hypercalcaemia
- E – ERCP
- D – Drugs (azathioprine, thiazides, valproate, asparaginase, allopurinol)
- And Pregnancy
Question 2.
What is the Glasgow scoring system for severity?
Glasgow criteria for predicting severity: PANCREAS mnemonic
- PaO2 <8Kpa
- Age < 55yrs
- Neutrophils (WBC > 15)
- Calcium <2mmol/L
- Renal function (Urea > 16)
- Enzymes (LDH > 600, AST > 200)
- Albumin < 32g/L
- Sugar > 10mmol/L
Question 3.
What are the complications of acute pancreatitis?
- Early:
- Shock
- Acute kidney injury
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome
- DIC
- Sepsis
- Hypocalcaemia
- Hyperglycaemia
- Pancreatic necrosis
- Late:
- Pancreatic necrosis
- Pancreatic pseudocyst
- Pancreatic fluid in lesser sac
- Fluid in lesser sca
- Presents > 6 weeks later
- Abdominal mass may be present
- May need internal (via stomach) or external drainage
- Abscess
- Thrombosis – splenic/gastroduodenal arteries
- Fistulae