Çocukluk çağının sinsi bir hastalığı: akut pankreatiti akılda bulundurun

The aim of the study is to perform a literature review of acute pancreatitis in childhood in Turkey in terms of how they are diagnosed, treated and survived. By using Medline/Pubmed and Turkish Medical databases, a computed review was performed. Thirty two children with acute pancreatitis reported by Turkish authors were analyzed. The median age of 17 boys and 14 girls diagnosed as acute pancreatitis was 7 years. The most common etiologic factors were drug or toxin intake and viral infections. The most frequent symptoms were abdominal pain, nause and/or vomiting. Diagnosis mainly based on elevated serum amylase. Ultrasound was used in 18 of the patients with a moderate predictive value. Many of patients were treated conservatively whereas only 15.6% of patients were operated. Fatal outcome was 9.4% due to concomitant metabolic disorders, infections or multiple organ failure. Acute pancreatitis proceeds with nonspecific symptoms which represent diagnostic challenges. That is why the misdiagnosis is generally unavoidable. As the disease carries significant morbidity and mortality, clinicians should be more suspicious while evaluating children with nonspesific abdominal symptoms