Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) has a high rate of mortality and complications. We evaluated the association between glycaemia, length of stay (LoS) and mortality in SAP patients admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: Data from 91 patients admitted to ICU between December 2018 and June 2022 with a primary diagnosis of SAP were retrospectively analysed. Blood glucose levels were measured as per local standard practice. Percentages of readings above range (PAR; >10 mmol/l) and below range (PBR; <3.9 mmol/l) were calculated. Patients with overall PAR >25% were categorised into a hyperglycaemia group or a non-hyperglycaemia group otherwise. Patients with PBR >4% were categorised into a hypoglycaemia group or a non-hypoglycaemia group otherwise. Further analysis was also performed based on pre-existing diagnosis of diabetes. An unpaired t-test was used to compare normally distributed variables. Non-normally distributed variables were compared using a Mann-Whitney U test. Association between categorical variables was assessed using Chi-Squared test of independence. All p-values are two-tailed and values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: The overall mean number of glucose tests per day was 5.1.

Median ICU LoS was 2 days higher in the hyperglycaemia group compared to the non-hyperglycaemia group (P = 0.16), however this did not reach statistical significance. No significant difference in ICU LoS or mortality was found in the hypoglycaemia group compared to the non-hypoglycaemia group. LoS and mortality were comparable in those with or without pre-existing diabetes.

Conclusion: In SAP patients admitted to ICU, we found no significant association between glycaemic status and LoS or mortality. Glucose level above 10 mmol/l was however associated with tendency for higher LoS and this may merit further exploration.