Improving the management of acute pancreatitis in a district general hospital

Acute pancreatitis is a common problem seen in the United Kingdom, with an incidence of 56.6 per 100,000 population.[1,2,3] Optimising management has been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity, and the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) published revised guidelines in 2005 to standardise treatment for this potentially life threatening condition.[4] The aim of this quality improvement project was to investigate and improve the initial management of acute pancreatitis in patients presenting to the Great Western Hospital (GWH) in Swindon between November 2012 and July 2013. Patients presenting to the surgical team during this time with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis were identified for the initial data collection. Notes were prospectively reviewed and data collected allowing a comparison between management in GWH against BSG guidelines. Following this stage, a pro forma based on the 2005 guidelines was created and implemented, with the aim of raising awareness and standardising care among surgical staff. Following implementation of the pro forma, data collection was repeated between May and June 2013 to assess the impact of the intervention. Results revealed an improvement from 93% to 100% of patients receiving the correct diagnosis within 24 hours of presentation. Severity stratification within 48 hours of diagnosis improved from 75% to 88% and identification of aetiology also improved from 64% to 74%. The implementation of an acute pancreatitis management protocol and education of junior surgical staff has been shown to improve compliance with BSG guidelines at the GWH, and ultimately aims to improves patient care and outcomes.