Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of the Triglyceride-Glucose Index in Acute Pancreatitis: A Prospective Observational...

Acute pancreatitis is a serious, life-threatening illness. Its early prediction can reduce the risk of organ dysfunction, morbidity, mortality, and hospital burden. Though many validated scores are being used in practice in predicting organ dysfunction and mortality among patients with acute pancreatitis, the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index can also assess mortality risk in the same condition. However, there is a scarcity of studies assessing the predictive value of the TyG index in the Indian subcontinent. Hence, we planned to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of the TyG index among patients with acute pancreatitis.

This observational study was conducted at Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bhubaneswar, India, from December 15, 2025, to May 15, 2026. We obtained ethical approval prior to the commencement of the study. We assessed the TyG index in patients with acute pancreatitis admitted to our hospital during the study period. We compared those values with existing validated scores, such as the modified Marshall score and the Bedside Index for Severity in Acute Pancreatitis (BISAP) score. We computed the sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and threshold values of the TyG index for diagnosing organ dysfunction in patients with acute pancreatitis and predicting in-hospital mortality of the study participants. R software (version 4.3.2) was used for data analysis.

We analyzed 185 patients with acute pancreatitis in this study. The study population's mean age was 54.8 ± 9.6 years. In our study, 138 (74.6%) participants were males. The mean serum amylase, lipase, triglyceride, and fasting blood glucose values were 553.3 U/L, 1148.6 U/L, 269.1 mg/dL, and 109.4 mg/dL, respectively. The mean TyG index was 8.98 ± 0.76. 24 (13.0%) patients died during their hospital stay. The sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and threshold values of the TyG index in predicting organ dysfunction in patients with acute pancreatitis were 29.6%, 33.3%, 29.7%, and 7.11, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and threshold values of the TyG index in predicting in-hospital mortality were 70.8%, 51.6%, 54.1%, and 6.70, respectively.

We found that the TyG index had lower diagnostic accuracy for predicting organ dysfunction in patients with acute pancreatitis than the modified Marshall score. However, it had better prognostic performance in assessing the mortality risk.