TOPLINE:

An episode of acute pancreatitis was associated with an increased risk for diabetes, with the 10-year cumulative incidence reaching 19.5%. Nearly 30% of diabetes cases occurred 5-10 years following the episode.

METHODOLOGY:

• Although studies have shown the effect of acute pancreatitis on pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, the link between acute pancreatitis and the incidence of diabetes remains unclear, with most data sourced from inpatient settings.
• Researchers analyzed data from the UK Biobank and identified the incidences of acute pancreatitis and diabetes overall and by subtype through linked hospital records from enrollment up to October 2022.
• Cumulative incidence and the 5-year risk were calculated using Kaplan-Meier estimates, and the risk for diabetes was compared between those with and without acute pancreatitis, after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, and alcohol use.

TAKEAWAY:

• Of the 502,132 participants (mean age, 56.5 years; 54.4% female) analyzed, 0.61% developed incident acute pancreatitis and 7.78% developed incident diabetes over a median follow-up period of 13.6 years.
• Acute pancreatitis was associated with a 1.90-fold higher risk for diabetes (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.90; P < .001). The 5-year cumulative incidence of diabetes was 5.64% (95% CI, 4.81-6.47) among participants with acute pancreatitis vs 2.18% (95% CI, 2.14-2.23) among those without.
• Acute pancreatitis was associated with an increased risk for all subtypes of diabetes: type 1 diabetes (aHR, 2.98; P < .001), type 2 diabetes (aHR, 1.81; P < .001), and secondary diabetes (aHR, 5.60; P < .001).
• The cumulative incidence of diabetes from the time of diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was 2.4% at 1 year, 5.6% at 3 years, 9.9% at 5 years, and 19.5% at 10 years, and the median time to diabetes was 3.9 years.

IN PRACTICE:

“Future guidelines should call for DM [diabetes] surveillance for all AP [acute pancreatitis] patients, with annual screening for at least a decade,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Malak Munir, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, and presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2026 in Chicago (May 2-5, 2026).

LIMITATIONS:

No limitations were discussed in the abstract.

DISCLOSURES:

No disclosures or conflicts of interest are mentioned in the study abstract.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.