Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of common critical illness in clinic, the etiology is miscellaneous and the pathogenesis
is complex, the mortality still remains high. Currently, AP is defined as a kind of inflammatory disease characterized by acute inflammation
and necrosis of pancreas. According to the severity, AP is divided into the mild AP, moderately severe AP and severe AP. The pathogenesis
of AP hasn't been completely illuminated, several theories have been proposed to explain the development of AP, including autodigestion
by pancreatin, apoptosis of pancreas acinar cells, excessive inflammation, changes of microcirculation, calcium overload, intestinal
bacterial translocation, etc. This article mainly reviews the research progress of definition, etiology, classification, pathogenesis
and treatment of AP. |