title: Does presence of common bile duct stones in patients with acute biliary pancreatitis affect the severity of illness or laboratory findings?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of stone within the common bile duct, on the severity of acute biliary pancreatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a prospective and cross sectional study which was conducted at a tertiary care hospital including 103 patients. Serum biochemical values and white blood cell counts at the first 12th and 72nd hours of presentation were evaluated. The patients were grouped according to the presence or absence of common bile duct stones which were diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Besides, the patients were classified as mild and severe acute pancreatitis according to the data provided by computed tomography (Balthazar scoring) and clinical assessment and blood samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 103 patients with acute biliary patients, radial endoscopic ultrasonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography revealed stones and/or sludge within the common bile duct or ampulla in 41 (39.8%) patients. There was not any persistent common bile duct stone in 62 (60.2%) patients. Severe pancreatitis developed in 9 (22%) of 41 patients who were determined to have stones by endoscopic ultrasonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, and in 13 (21%) of 62 patients who were not. There was no difference in the incidence of progressing to severe acute biliary patients between patients with and without common bile duct stones (p=0.45).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Presence of common bile duct stones do not correlate with the severity of acute biliary pancreatitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Atatürk Research and Education Hospital, İzmir.
authors.forename: Emrah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alper
authors.forename: Behlül
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baydar
authors.forename: Sezgin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vatansever
authors.forename: Zafer
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Buyraç
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.forename: Zehra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Akpinar
authors.forename: M Kadir
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Aksöz
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akça
authors.forename: Belkıs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ünsal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002760:Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein