The Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score (HAPS) Identifies Non-Severe Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION: We previously described a scoring system to identify patients with harmless acute pancreatitis as defined by absence of pancreatic necrosis, no need for artificial ventilation or dialysis, and non-fatal course. This scoring system, the Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score (HAPS), can be quickly calculated from three parameters: absence of abdominal tenderness or rebound, normal hematocrit and normal creatinine level. We aim to assess the positive predictive value (PPV) of the HAPS by performing a meta-analysis of subsequently published studies. METHODS: We performed a literature search using Pubmed, Web of Science RESULTS: Twenty reports covering 6374 patients were identified. The overall PPV based on 16 studies that closely followed the original description of the HAPS system was 97% (95%CI 95-99%) with significant heterogeneity (I CONCLUSION: The HAPS, if used as originally defined, accurately identifies patients with non-severe AP who will not require ICU care and facilitate selection of patients who can be discharged after a short stay on a general ward or can even be cared for at home. This could free hospital beds for other purposes and decrease healthcare costs