It has been described that one third of patients with acute pancreatitis develop pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI). PEI is the inability of the pancreas to adequately digest food, so that some of the food is lost in the feces. PEI leads to a loss of energy as well as vitamins and trace elements. PEI especially affects fats, as pancreatic lipase is key in the digestion of this component of the diet. Unfortunately, there is no good diagnostic method for PEI, as fecal elastase has a low positive predictive value, and measurement of the fecal fat excretion/coefficient of fat absorption is only available in very few centers, as it is complex to perform. The PEI-Q (Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency Questionnaire) has been developed to help detect PEI by asking simple questions to the patient.

This Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement scale was developed in patients with chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis. The aim of this study is to describe the incidence of PEI after AP and, more importantly, to investigate whether the PEI-Q is useful in detecting those patients who develop PEI after acute pancreatitis.