[History of surgical intervention in severe acute pancreatitis treatment]

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is hard to treat for the abrupt onset, critical condition and complicated pathophysiology. Historically, the treatment strategy of SAP hovered between surgical intervention and conservative treatment. At the turn of the 20(th) century, SAP was reported to be cured by surgical intervention in a series cases, which lead to the dominance of surgical intervention in SAP treatment. Subsequently, SAP was documented to respond to nonoperative therapy. A wave of conservatism emerged, and surgical intervention for SAP was rarely practiced for the next 3 decades. However, surgeons refined the indications and considered new approaches for surgical treatment in 1960s because of the poor outcomes of conservation, and surgical interventions was mainly performed at early stage of SAP. However, a series of prospective studies showed that conservative treatment of patients with sterile pancreatic necrosis is superior to surgical intervention, and that delayed intervention provide improved outcomes in 1990s, which changed the treatment concept of SAP again. The modern treatment concept formed during the progression: organ supportive care dominates in the early stage of the disease, and surgical intervention should be performed at late stage with proper indications. Despite the advances in treatment, the morbidity of SAP is still 5%-20%, which suggests the pancreatic surgeons' exploration in the future.