Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) can be the cause of abdominal discomfort in up to 5% of patients who visit the emergency department (ED), depending on the patient's age and other conditions. AP can range in severity from moderate (typically resolves in few days) to severe (up to 30% mortality). Patients with necrotizing pancreatitis, hemorrhagic pancreatitis, and multiorgan dysfunction or failure have the highest mortality rates. Objective: This article aimed to review the diagnosis and complications of acute pancreatitis, as well as the associated risk factors contribute to AP. Methods: Acute pancreatitis, abdominal pain, risk factors and complications were all searched by Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed. The writers also assessed references from pertinent literature, although they only included the most recent or comprehensive study, which ran from January 2000 to May 2023. Documents in languages other than English were not included since there are insufficient sources available for translation. Excluded papers included dissertations, conference abstracts, unpublished publications, oral presentations, and other works not included in longer scientific investigations. Conclusion: One of the most common causes of AP is gallstones. Age, gender, and the presence of tiny gallstones all raise the risk. The increased prevalence of obesity is probably going to encourage the development of gallstones. Currently, there is no gold standard test for the diagnosis of AP. According to trials, the urine trypsinogen-2 test is a quick, easy, noninvasive, and straightforward procedure. Thus, it might be applied as a pancreatitis screening test.