Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical, laboratory
and etiological differences between children having acute pancreatitis, acute
recurrent pancreatitis and chronic pancreatitis.

Method: Medical records of children who were diagnosed with
pancreatitis between January 2014 and December 2017 were evaluated
retrospectively.  The study was approved
by the Ethics Committee of Afyonkarahisar University of Health Sciences. Our cases were classified as acute
pancreatitis, acute recurrent pancreatitis and chronic pancretitis according to
INSPPIRE group definitions.

Results:
Etiology, demographic characteristics, laboratory and radiological findings
were compared between acute pancreatitis (group 1) and acute recurrent and
chronic pancreatitis (group 2) groups. 43 patients (78.2%) were enrolled in
acute pancreatitis group (group 1). In group 2; 8 cases had acute recurrent
pancreatitis and 4 cases had chronic pancreatitis [a total of 12 cases (21.8%)].  the etiologies of our cases were examined;  Group 1 had idiopathic (88.5%), stone (2.3%),
trauma (2.3%), infections (4.6%) and choledochal cyst (2.3%), respectively. In
group 2, they were found to be idiopathic (50%), congenital anomalies of the
pancreatic duct (8.3%), allergy (8.3%), autoimmunity (8.3%) and genetic causes
(25%). There was no statistical difference between the groups in terms of
laboratory values. In our study, the cause of pancreatitis could not be generally
identified in all groups.

Conclusions:
 In cases having acute pancreatitis,
infections were the second most common etiology; and common causes of acute
recurrent and chronic pancreatitis have been found as genetic causes.

Keywords: acute pancreatitis, acute recurrent pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, etiology