Acute Pancreatitis and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Chicken-Egg Paradox-A Seven-Year Experience of a Large Tertiary Center

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 13; no. 5; p. 1213
• Main Authors: Pahomeanu, Mihai Radu, Ojog, Damiana, Nițu, Diana Teodora, Diaconu, Irina Ștefania, Nayyerani, Hosein, Negreanu, Lucian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.02.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Care and treatment; Chi-square test; Classification; Complications and side effects; Development and progression; Diabetes; Electronic health records; Epidemiology; Etiology; Hospital utilization; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Length of stay; Medical records; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Morphology; Observational studies; Pancreatitis; Patients; Risk factors; Smoking; Statistical analysis; Tobacco; Type 2 diabetes; Variables; Romania; Atlanta Georgia; Bucharest Romania; United States > US; severity; type 2 diabetes mellitus; ICU; acute pancreatitis
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm13051213

(1) Preexisting type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been shown in some studies as a risk factor and a severity factor for acute pancreatitis (AP). In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the link between T2DM and AP using data from a large retrospective epidemiological registry in a tertiary center. (2) We conducted a retrospective, large-cohort study of 1855 cases of AP and recurrent AP drawn from the seven-year consecutive hospitalization electronic health records of the largest acute-care tertiary teaching center in Romania. (3) We observed a significant association between T2DM and a more severe course of the disease, and between T2DM and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to AP, in our cohort using a chi-square test. However, we did not see a meaningful difference in comparing LoS-ICU between T2DM-AP and OAP (other known cause of AP). AP patients with T2DM had a greater probability of a severe course of the disease and were more likely to be admitted to the ICU than to the OAP. (4) The association between T2DM and AP remains a topic very representative of the "chicken-egg paradox". We need further research on DM-related AP and their bidirectional association as our study is limited by its retrospective design.