Abstract
Bundles that define mandatory items or procedures to be performed in clinical practice have been increasingly used in guidelines in recent years. Observance of bundles enables improvement of the prognosis of target diseases as well as guideline preparation. Pancreatitis Bundles defined by the JPN Guidelines 2010 for management of acute pancreatitis, were not only first bundles in Japanese practice guidelines but also the world's first bundles for acute pancreatitis. The pancreatitis bundles included those interventions that are judged to be important on the basis of a recommendation classification of “A or B”. Each item includes assessment of severity after a diagnosis of pancreatitis has been made, differentiation of pathogenesis, management of gallstone-induced pancreatitis, a sufficient dose of fluid replacement and monitoring, pain control, prophylactic administration of wide-spectrum antibiotics and cholecystectomy following resolution of pancreatic symptoms caused by cholecystolithiasis. Hereafter, the efficacy of these indicators and the significance of their achievement should be examined carefully. The assessment of the compliance rate with the guidelines as well as the assessment of the guidelines itself should thereafter become possible.
