The Role of C‑reactive Protein Testing in Predicting the Severity of Acute Pancreatitis

Abstract

Acute pancreatitis is a clinical condition characterized by enzymatic inflammation of the pancreatic parenchyma due to several etiologies. Its severity and diagnosis are based on the revised Atlanta Classification. Most cases resolve without any complications but few proceeds towards severe acute pancreatitis. Hence, several scoring systems have been formulated to predict the severity of acute pancreatitis and out of them, C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the easily accessible markers used to predict the severity. This was a single center descriptive observational cross-sectional study conducted at Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu from June 2024 to June 2025. All patients who were admitted with acute pancreatitis and had undergone CRP test within 48 hours of admission falling into our inclusion criteria were included after obtaining an informed consent. Of 110 patients 23 (20.9%) were classified as severe acute pancreatitis and 9 (8.2%) died. Seventy-five cases were male and 35 cases were female. CRP values within 48 hours were comparable to Atlanta classification and other severity indices of pancreatitis.