RESUMO
Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an abnormal inflammatory condition of the pancreas and one of the most common acute abdominal diseases.The cause and pathophysiology of AP are complicated and the overall mortality rate is up to 5％-10％ while severe AP patients could suffer from even 20％-30％ mortality risks.Until now,the underlying pathogenesis of AP remains unclear and no effective specific treatment has been developed.Hence,a great number of experimental studies on AP pathogenesis and therapeutic methods by applying associated animal models have been undertaken around worldwide.Therefore,the aim of this article is to review about the selection of animal species and induction methods in main AP animal models and how to choose models for different AP etiologies.