Red blood cell distribution width: a determinant of hospital mortality in pancreatitis

Objective: In recent years, there has been a great attention concerning red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in clinical decisions as well as determining the severity of diseases. This study was conducted to evaluate the primary level of RDW to predict hospital mortality in pancreatitis. Methods: This was a descriptive analytical study performed on 100 patients with acute pancreatitis in the emergency department of Imam Reza hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. In this study, the primary level of RDW in patients with acute pancreatitis presenting to the emergency ward was collected and after patients’ admission we followed them. Also, the admission outcome (mortality or discharge) of patients was registered, and finally we evaluated the predictive value of RDW in determining the patient’s outcome in hospital. Results: In our study, 47 patients were male, and 53 patients were female. Mean RDW in patients was 13.82 ± 1.69. Five patients died during the study. Mean RDW in dead patients and other patients was 16.44 ± 4.22 and 13.68 ± 1.37, respectively (P < 0.001). The cut-off point of 14.55 for RDW with 80% sensitivity and 85% specificity was determined for predicting mortality in patients. Conclusion: Based on our study results, the initial RDW level is an independent factor for predicting in-hospital mortality in pancreatitis but not for determining the need for surgery or admission to the intensive care unit (ICU).