Background:

The worldwide incidence of acute pancreatitis (AP) is increasing.

Aim:

To determine the national incidence of AP between 2013 and 2018.

Material and Methods:

Analysis of hospital discharge records available at the web page of the Statistical and Information Service of the Chilean Ministry of Health. We recorded the number of patients discharged with a diagnosis of AP, excluding chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, between 2013 and 2018. We also recorded length of hospital stay, age, etiology, and lethality. Rates of raw and age-adjusted incidence were calculated.

Results:

During the study period, 46,420 patients with AP were discharged, with an incidence rate ranging between 39 and 43.7/100,000 inhabitants, and a non-significant increase along time of 8.6%. There are important differences between the average adjusted rates of Northern (Arica to Metropolitan) and Southern regions (O'Higgins to Magallanes), with rates of 36.9 and 53.6/100,000 inhabitants respectively (p < 0.01). The average hospital stay was 11 days. Two thirds of cases were aged between 20 and 64 years. The case fatality was 4.2%, with no decrease between 2013 and 2018. The mortality rate was 1.6/100,000 inhabitants.

Conclusions:

The annual incidence of AP is 42.6/100,000 inhabitants, with geographical differences from North to South, which can be associated with the high frequency of biliary tract disease in aboriginal ethnic groups. The age distribution and length hospital stay were stable over time.