RESUMEN
Background: Acute pancreatitis is the most terrible of all the calamities that occur in connection with the abdominal viscera. Prediction of severity is an essential step in the management of acute pancreatitis. 50% of mortality can be reduced to 8% by its early recognition. PANC-3 score is widely available test that can be performed quickly, easy to measure with high accuracy in predicting acute pancreatitis.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of general surgery, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital over 50 patients admitted with acute pancreatitis. After making the clinical diagnosis, PANC -3 score, modified ATLANTA score, APACHE II were done. CRP and CTSI (computed tomography sensitivity index) were calculated and correlated.Results: Mean age was 44.74 years and most common cause was biliary tract pathology. Mortality observed in 5 patients, 11 patients had severe disease. Sensitivity of PANC- 3 was 81.82%, specificity -92.31% with 75% PPV and 94.7% NPV.Conclusions: PANC-3 can be used to predict the severity of pancreatitis as efficiently as Modified ATLANTA classification/APACHE II. It uses only three criteria which are easily done, and available in the basic health care setup. Its interpretation does not need expertise and can be applied at the time of admission which is an advantage when compared to classical scoring systems.