Statistical analysis
NECROTIZING PANCREATITIS
The sample size of this study was estimated using software PASS version 15 (NCSS, LLC. Kaysville, Utah, USA). Based on published data, incidence rates of major complications/death are 40–69.5% for minimal-access surgical management in patients with necrotizing pancreatitis [Since this was an exploratory study, we used descriptive statistics to summarize the findings. All analyses were followed an intention-to-treat principle. Continuous variables were described using mean ± standard deviation (SD), median and interquartile range (IQR), and range. Categorical variables were reported as numbers and proportions. The statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS software version 20 (IBM Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA).