Obesity and treatment of diabetes with glyburide may both be risk factors for acute pancreatitis.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate risk factors, notably drugs, for acute pancreatitis.

METHODS

A population-based case-control study was conducted of 1.4 million inhabitants, aged 20-85 years, of four regions in Sweden between 1 January 1995 and 31 May 1998. A total of 462 case subjects were hospitalized in surgery departments for their first episode of acute pancreatitis without previous gallbladder disease. A total of 1,781 control subjects were randomly selected from a population register. Information was obtained from case records and through telephone interviews.

RESULTS

A total of 27 case subjects (6%) and 55 control subjects (3%) had prevalent diabetes. A total of 53 case subjects (11%) and 130 control subjects (7%) had a BMI >30 kg/m(2). Use of glyburide had a crude odds ratio (OR) of 3.2 (95% CI 1.5-5.9), and in a multivariate logistic regression adjusted for covariates, the OR for use of glyburide was 2.5 (1.1-5.9). BMI had a continuous OR of 1.2 (1.1-1.4) per 5 units of BMI. The relative risk for hospitalization longer than 14 days or treatment in an intensive care unit was 2.4 (1.1-5.4) among patients with a BMI >30 kg/m(2) when compared with patients with a BMI between 20 and 25 kg/m(2).

CONCLUSIONS

Use of glyburide and obesity may both be risk factors for acute pancreatitis. Obesity is associated with an extended hospitalization time in subjects with acute pancreatitis.