Pancreatitis: Preventing catastrophic haemorrhage

Table 1 Early vs late pancreatitis

Early phase pancreatitis	Late phase pancreatitis
Systemic disturbances result from the host response to local pancreatic injury.	Persistence of systemic signs of inflammation.
Clinical manifestation with associated SIRS response.	Presence of local complications.
Usually lasts less than one week but may extend into the second week.	Compensatory inflammatory response syndrome.
Severity determined by presence of organ failure. Transient < 48 h. Persistent > 48 h.