Recent Advances in Managing Acute Pancreatitis

Abstract

This article will review the recent advances in managing acute pancreatitis. Supportive care has long been the standard of treatment for this disease despite extensive, but ultimately unsuccessful, efforts to develop disease-specific pharmacologic therapies. The primary interventions center on aggressive fluid resuscitation, initiation of early enteral nutrition, targeted antibiotic therapy, and the management of complications. In this article, we will detail treatment of acute pancreatitis with a focus on intravenous fluid resuscitation, enteral feeding, and the current evidence behind the use of antibiotics and other pharmacologic therapies.