Abstract

Acute pancreatitis is an acute inflammation of the pancreas with varia-ble involvement of surrounding tissues and/or distant organs. Acute pancreatitis is mild and resolves itself without serious complications in 80% of patients; however it has complications and mortality in about 20% of patients despite the aggressive intervention. This paper covers the various etiologies attributing to acute pancreatitis, pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis and the diagnostic markers used for acute pan-creatitis. The diagnostic markers include: Amylase, Lipase, Trypsinogen, Interleukin-6, C reactive protein, Procalcitonin, Polymorphonuclear Elastase (PMN Elastase), Trypsin Activation Pep-tide (TAP), Trysinogen-2, Hepcidin, Copeptin, Soluble E-Selectin (sES) and Soluble Thrombomodulin (sTM), and Serum Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1).

Key words: Acute pancreatitis, Amylase, C-reactive protein, Diagnostic markers, Interleukin-6, Lipase, Trypsinogen