ObjectiveTo evaluate the therapic efficacy for severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) during different periods. MethodsAccording to internalized standard, 234 patients with SAP admitted to this hospital from January 1986 to October 2009 were included, which were divided into two stages based on the time of admitting to this hospital. The first stage named prior operation group was from January 1986 to August 1998 (n=117), the second stage named individual treatment group was from September 1998 to October 2009 (n=117). There was comparability in demography and clinic between two groups. The prior operation group primarily underwent laparotomy and medication, and the individual treatment group underwent multiple combined therapies. These indexes were compared between two groups: hospital stay, cure rate, and mortality; the incidences of pancreatic pseudocyst, pancreatic and peripancreatic abscess, pancreatic encephalopathy, cardiac insufficiency, acute renal failure (ARF), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and shock. The efficacies for early treatment, ascites, biliary pancreatitis, and pancreatic and peripancreatic complications were compared two groups by stratified analysis. ResultsCompared with the prior operation group, the hospital stay was shorter (Plt;0.05), cure rate was higher (Plt;0.001), and mortality was lower in the individual treatment group (Plt;0.001). During the treatments, the incidences of pancreatic pseudocyst, pancreatic and peripancreatic abscess, pancreatic encephalopathy, cardiac insufficiency, ARF, ARDS, and shock in the individual treatment group were lower than those in the prior operation group (Plt;0.05). According to the stratified analysis, the efficacies for early treatment, ascites, biliary pancreatitis, and pancreatic and peripancreatic complications in the individual treatment group were better than those in the prior operation group (Plt;0.001). ConclusionIn recent years, the change of therapeutic mode significantly improves the treatment efficacy for SAP.