Alcohol-related liver disease greatly increase risk of pancreatitis, discloses study

A new study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine showed that acute pancreatitis (AP) is 9-times more likely to occur in people with alcohol-related liver disease (ALD). Overindulgence in alcohol damages a number of organs, with the pancreas and liver being especially susceptible. Alcohol-induced pancreatitis frequently presents as a continuum, from isolated acute pancreatitis episodes to long-term, irreversible alterations.

Only 2.5% to 3% of heavy drinkers develop pancreatitis by indicating that alcohol alone is not enough to induce AP, even if greater doses of alcohol raise the risk. In clinical practice, pancreatitis and ALD are shown to coexist. Yet, there is a lot of variance and a dearth of extant literature on this topic. Thus, this study was set to evaluate the prevalence and severity of AP in ALD patients nationally in comparison to the general population. Finding risk factors for the onset of AP in individuals with ALD was the secondary goal.

This population-based cohort research utilized information of 37,062 ALD patients from 1969 to 2020 from the Swedish National Patient Register. A total of 352,931 patients were matched to ≤10 general population comparators. The probability of acute or chronic pancreatitis before an ALD diagnosis was estimated using logistic regression, while hospitalization rates for AP following an ALD diagnosis were estimated using Cox regression.

A total 67% had cirrhosis at baseline, 72% were men, and the median age at ALD diagnosis was 59 years. The overall odds of having pancreatitis were 9-times greater than those of comparators, with 7% having had it prior to an ALD diagnosis. With an adjusted HR of 6.3, the 10-year cumulative incidence of hospitalization for AP was 2.7% in ALD and 0.6% in comparators.

Independent risk variables for developing AP in ALD were male sex, younger age, and diagnoses of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and alcohol use disorders. A greater risk of AP was linked to continued drinking after baseline. Overall, both before and after the diagnosis of ALD, the findings of this study showed a correlation between AP and ALD. 

Source:

Dugic, A., Widman, L., Löhr, J. ‐Matthias, & Hagström, H. (2024). Six‐fold increased risk of acute pancreatitis in alcohol‐related liver disease compared to matched comparators: A population‐based cohort study. In Journal of Internal Medicine. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.20026