Acute Pancreatitis and Pregnancy: A 10-Year Single Center Experience

Acute pancreatitis in pregnancy is rare. We report our institutional therapeutic approaches to this disease and its effect on maternal and fetal outcomes.

A retrospective review of medical records of pregnant women admitted to Brigham and Women’s Hospital between 1996 and 2006.

Twenty-one patients, presenting with 34 episodes of acute pancreatitis were identified. Most attacks (56%) occurred in the second trimester. Twelve patients had biliary pancreatitis. Three had pancreatitis secondary to other causes and six had “undetermined” etiologies. Of those with biliary pancreatitis, six underwent cholecystectomy; in a third of these cases, initial conservative therapy had failed. The other six patients underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy (n = 2) or conservative therapy (n = 4). Fifty percent of the patients with biliary pancreatitis managed conservatively had a recurrent episode of pancreatitis vs none in the cholecystectomy group. There was no significant difference in length of hospital stay between the three treatment groups (cholecystectomy, sphincterotomy, and conservative therapy). No maternal deaths were observed; there were four preterm labors and one fetal loss.

If treated conservatively, pregnant patients with biliary pancreatitis appear to have a high recurrence rate. Early surgical intervention is appropriate, safe, and does not increase the length of hospital stay.