Impacts of abnormal blood lipids on hospitalization cost and disease severity in patients with hyperlipidemia pancreatitis: a retrospective cohort study

Background Hyperlipidemic pancreatitis (HLP) imposes a substantial health, social and economic burden. In this retrospective study, we analyzed how abnormal blood lipids relate to hospitalization cost and disease severity in patients with HLP, thereby we propose a prevention and treatment strategy. Methods This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 117 HLP patients with 171 hospitalizations at Jen Ching Memorial Hospital between January 2018 and June 2025. We performed gamma regression analysis for total hospitalization cost (THC) and negative binomial regression analysis for length of stay (LOS), and used the cluster-robust standard errors to account for repeated hospitalizations. Results At baseline, the median LOS was 6 days; the median THC was 10,920.44 yuan; the median triglycerides (TG) was 13.56 mmol/L and median total cholesterol (TC) was 8.89 mmol/L. Multiple analyses in this study revealed a positive correlation between the blood lipids and THC: each 1 mmol/L increase in TG was correlated with a 2.2% (about 240 yuan) increase in THC, while each 1 mmol/L increase in TC increased THC by 5.3% (about 580 yuan). Clinically, the patients with a history of hyperlipidemia and a recent high-fat diet were independently correlated with a higher HLP recurrence rate (OR = 3.74), and increased TG level was a significant risk factor for intensive care unit (ICU) transfer and severe complications in HLP patients. Conclusion Increased TG and TC levels are not merely clinical risk factors but direct drivers of economic burden, and TC level shows a particularly high cost-elasticity. A prevention and treatment strategy based on long-term lipid control can reduce the disease-specific cost and improve the clinical outcome of HLP patients.