Pulmonary repercussions of acute pancreatitis: state of art

In the past decade, the incidence of acute pancreatitis in humans has increased by 20% in the United Kingdom, and its economic impact in the United States has exceeded USD 2.6 billion a year. Progression to the severe form is associated with the activation of inflammatory mediators and cascades, which lead to the development of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome and, consequently, to multiple organ dysfunction, where the lungs are the most affected. Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are respiratory disorders most often associated with acute pancreatitis. Dogs and cats with ARDS have mortality rates above 90% and in humans, the syndrome is responsible for 60% of deaths. The study aimed to review the pathophysiology of the disease in view of the need to develop therapeutic strategies. For this purpose, an analysis of publications indexed in the PubMed® database was carried out in the last 20 years. The search resulted in 51 articles that correlated with the topic. It was concluded that the high rate of morbidity and mortality in human patients and animals affected by pulmonary complications secondary to acute pancreatitis, reiterate the importance of conducting clinical trials and experimental studies that expand knowledge about its pathophysiology, which has not yet been fully elucidated. ​