Acute Pancreatitis and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Chicken–Egg Paradox—A Seven-Year Experience of a Large Tertiary Center

Abstract

(1) Background: Preexisting type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been shown in some studies as a risk factor and a severity factor for acute pancreatitis (AP). In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the link between T2DM and AP using data from a large retrospective epidemiological registry in a tertiary center. (2) Methods: We conducted a retrospective, large-cohort study of 1855 cases of AP and recurrent AP drawn from the seven-year consecutive hospitalization electronic health records of the largest acute-care tertiary teaching center in Romania. (3) Results: We observed a significant association between T2DM and a more severe course of the disease, and between T2DM and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to AP, in our cohort using a chi-square test. However, we did not see a meaningful difference in comparing LoS-ICU between T2DM-AP and OAP (other known cause of AP). AP patients with T2DM had a greater probability of a severe course of the disease and were more likely to be admitted to the ICU than to the OAP. (4) Conclusions: The association between T2DM and AP remains a topic very representative of the “chicken–egg paradox”. We need further research on DM-related AP and their bidirectional association as our study is limited by its retrospective design.

Keywords

• type 2 diabetes mellitus
• acute pancreatitis
• severity
• ICU