JNMA I VOL 52 I NO. 12 I ISSUE 196 I OCT-DEC, 2014 982 Routine Measurement of Serum Amylase in Acute Abdomen Roshan Ghimire, 1 Anurag Singh Thapa, 1 Dimindra Karki, 1 Dipendra Kumar Shrestha 1 1 Department of Surgery, Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmadu, Nepal. ABSTRACT Background: Acute abdominal pain is a common condition presenting to both the emergency department (ED) and surgical admission unit. Increase in serum amylase levels are found in much gastrointestinal pathology. Serum amylase level is consistently high in acute pancreatitis though high values are not pathognomonic of pancreatitis .The aim of this study to assess the level of serum amylase in various diseases presenting with acute abdominal pain and to evaluate the role of routine measurement of serum amylase in the screening of patient with acute abdominal pain for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis in a prospective series. Methods: A prospective observational study was performed from 15 th May 2014 – 15 th Nov 2014 (6 months) at Department of Surgery of Kathmandu medical College Teaching Hospital; Kathmandu. All consecutive patients presented at emergency department and required admissions in surgical ward were included. A multivariate analysis was performed to assess the level of serum amylase in various diseases presenting with acute abdominal pain including acute pancreatitis. Results: Overall, 318 patients were included during a period of 6 months among them 48 patients were excluded. 34 cases (12.6 %) were diagnosed of acute pancreatitis. three cases (1.1%) of non pancreatic pathology with raised serum amylase level (> 1000 U\L). Conclusions: Routine assessment of serum amylase is helpful in excluding differential diagnosis of SDWLHQW SUHVHQWLQJ ZLWK DFXWH DEGRPHQ DQG WKLV VWXG\ LGHQWLﾀHG VHUXP DP\ODVH DV D JRRG VFUHHQLQJ tool if done in cases with clinical suspicion. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: acute abdominal pain; acute pancreatitis; serum amylase. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________ Correspondence: Dr. Roshan Ghimire, Department of Surgery, Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Kathmadu, Nepal. Email: roshanghimire@mail.com, Phone: +977-9841280037. INTRODUCTION Acute abdominal pain is a common condition presenting in both the emergency department (ED) and surgical admissions unit. The presentation of a patient with acute abdominal pain often is both a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. A number of diagnostic tests are routinely performed in the ED so that results are available when clinicians arrive to assess patients. Acute abdomen accounts for approximately 7% of ED visits. 1 Incidence of Acute pancreatitis in UK is between 100-250 per 1,000,000 populations per year. 2 Serum amylase level is consistently high in acute pancreatitis. 8GT[ JKIJ XCNWGU CTG HQWPF KP VJG ſTUV  JQWTU Unfortunately, high values are not pathognomonic of pancreatitis. 3 CC S BY NC OPEN ACCESS ORIGINAL ARTICLE J Nepal Med Assoc 2014;52(196):982-85