Serum Amylase Levels in Experimental Intestinal Obstruction

Abstract

THE elevation of serum amylase activity in pancreatitis was first described by Elman^{1 2 3} and was thought to be specific for this disease. It was subsequently found that the amylase level may be elevated by other processes: mumps,^{4 , 5} perforated duodenal ulcers,^{6 7 8} cerebral trauma,⁹ administration of opiates^{10 11 12 13} and renal insufficiency.¹⁴ It may also be elevated in intestinal obstruction, especially when the bowel has been infarcted. The earliest case reported, that of Polowe¹⁵ (1946), concerned a patient with mesenteric thrombosis and infarction of the small bowel. Burnett and Ness¹⁶ studied serum amylase activity in 35 cases of intestinal obstruction and found 19 elevated . . .