PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - John Butler AU - Damian Bates TI - Serum amylase and acute pancreatitis AID - 10.1136/emj.20.6.550 DP - 2003 Nov 01 TA - Emergency Medicine Journal PG - 550--551 VI - 20 IP - 6 4099 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/20/6/550.short 4100 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/20/6/550.full SO - Emerg Med J2003 Nov 01; 20 AB - A short cut review was carried out to establish whether a normal serum amylase value rules out the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. Altogether 191 papers were found using the reported search, of which four presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.