Glasgow Pancreatitis Score

Assesses the severity of pancreatitis within 48 hours from admission.

The Glasgow Pancreatitis Score evaluates how severe pancreatitis is, based on seven laboratory investigations performed in the first 48 hours after hospital admission and on a risk weighting based on patient age.

The score is also known as Imrie’s criteria and applies to both pancreatitis of biliary and alcoholic source.

The 8 severity risk factors accounted for in the score are:

■ Age >55 years;

■ Serum albumin <32 g/L (3.2 g/dL);

■ Arterial PO2 on room air <8 kPa (60 mmHg);

■ Serum calcium <2 mmols/L (8 mg/dL);

■ Blood glucose >10.0 mmols/L (180 mg/dL);

■ Serum LDH >600 units/L;

■ Serum urea nitrogen >16.1 mmols/L (45 mg/dL);

■ WBC count >15 x 109/L (15 x 103/microlitre).

The 8 items in the Glasgow pancreatitis score calculator are known to form the acronym pancreas: partial pressure oxygen, age, neutrophils, calcium, renal function, enzymes, albumin and sugar.

Scoring method

Each of the 8 items in the score are awarded 1 point when present, for example when “Serum LDH >600 units/L”.

The total score ranges from 0 to 8, the higher the score, the greater the AP severity.

There is a cut off for increased likelihood of severity at 2 points, where every value above indicates severe AP.

Scores above 3 also indicate that the patient is likely to require admission to ICU.

The table below introduces the correlation between scores and mortality risk:

Glasgow pancreatitis score Predicted mortality

0 - 2 2%

3, 4 15%

5, 6 40%

7, 8 100%