Acute pancreatitis (AP) was the third most common gastrointestinal diagnosis in 2012, resulting in approximately 275,000 admissions and costing about $2.6 billion.1,2 It is also the most common pancreatic disease worldwide.3 The incidence is increasing, but death rates have actually decreased in recent years to <2%.1 However, ≥50% of the deaths occur within the first 2 weeks of diagnosis.4,5 The recent revised Atlanta classification6 described mild (usually interstitial), moderately severe (local complications without persistent organ failure), and severe (persistent organ failure) AP subtypes.