Abstract
Searching for the etiology of acute pancreatitis is crucial for the treatment as well as the severity assessment. It is particularly important to differentiate gallstone-induced pancreatitis from other causes, because patients with this type of pancreatitis often require the management of biliary disorders. In the JPN guidelines, it is recommended to determine promptly whether it is gallstone-induced or not. And urgent endoscopic treatment is recommended to be performed only in patients suspected to be complicated with biliary duct obstruction or cholangitis. However, the present JPN guidelines do not describe clearly enough how to search for the etiology and what kind of patients have biliary duct obstruction or cholangitis.
