ObjectiveTo investigate the etiology of pediatric pancreatitis and the effect of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in it. MethodsPatients hospitalized for pancreatitis in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from Jan. 2008 to Jun. 2023 were included according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Totally, 241 cases (207 cases with acute pancreatitis and 34 with chronic pancreatitis) were included. Patients were divided into primary group (n=168) and recurrent group (n=73) according to their previous medical history. ResultsThe duration of hospitalization in the primary group was longer than that in the recurrent group [10.0 (7.0, 16.0) d vs. 7.5 (6.0, 11.8) d, P=0.012]. The proportion of acute pancreatitis in primary group (163/168, 97.0%) was higher than that in the recurrent group (44/73, 60.3%), P<0.001. There was no significant difference in the etiological component ratio between the primary and recurrent groups (χ2=7.504, P=0.347). However, in the primary group, the first etiology was biliary factors (38/163, 23.3%), and the second was biliary pancreatic anatomic abnormality (22/163, 13.5%). In the recurrence group, biliary pancreatic anatomic abnormality (13/44, 29.5%) was the first cause, and biliary factor (7/44, 15.9%) was the second cause. Among 207 cases with acute pancreatitis, there were 114 cases (55.1%) with clear etiology, including 45 cases (21.7%) of biliary factors, 35 cases (16.9%) of abnormal biliary pancreatic structure, 12 cases (5.8%) of traumatic factors, and 10 cases (4.8%) of drug-induced factors. In this study, 66 cases were treated with ERCP for pancreatitis, and a total of 103 ERCP operations were performed with cannulation success rate of 100%. Twenty-three cases (23/37, 62.2%) of acute pancreatitis resulted from biliary and biliary pancreatic structure abnormalities received ERCP. In biliary acute pancreatitis, the removal rate of choledocholithiasis in single ERCP operation was 80.0% (8/10). The clinical symptoms (abdominal pain, jaundice, and fever) of all cases were significantly improved after surgery, and no complications such as cholangitis, bleeding and perforation occurred. ConclusionsBiliary, congenital pancreatic anatomical abnormalities, drugs and trauma are the common causes of acute pancreatitis in children. ERCP is a safe and effective treatment for children with biliary pancreatitis, pancreatic anatomical abnormalities, and chronic pancreatitis.