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Overview of Chronic Pancreatitis
What’s Chronic Pancreatitis
Pancreas is one the major glands present behind the stomach and strategically situated in front of your spine. It mainly helps produce digestive enzymes as well as hormones aiding the process of digestion. And this major organ helps keep your blood sugar under control.
Chronic Pancreatitis is a kind of irreversible disorder, due to a severe inflammation of your pancreas.
A short term inflammation of the pancreas is Acute Pancreatitis. Chronic pancreatitis is long standing and repeated inflammation of the pancreas. Here the functional capacity of the gland is reduced to very low levels. Calcium stones and fluid filled cysts form within the pancreas and obstruct the delivery of digestive enzymes into the intestine. Pancreatitis prevents your body from digesting food and then regulating your blood sugar. Thus the patient slowly develops features of malnutrition and diabetes.
Causes of Chronic Pancreatitis
There are many causes of chronic pancreatitis, most common causes include
Symptoms of Chronic Pancreatitis
During the initial stages, you may not notice any symptoms. The common symptoms include
Some also experience symptoms like
Yellowish discoloration of eyes and urine
Abdominal distension due to fluid accumulation within the abdomen
Vomiting due to intestinal block
Diagnosis of Chronic Pancreatitis
Blood tests
Blood tests are rarely used to diagnose chronic pancreatitis but complications due to pancreatitis may be detected by liver function tests.
Stool tests
Your physician may order fat estimation in your stools, which will indicate the degree of malabsorption. Pancreatic enzyme levels are measured in stools and will detect the severity of pancreatic malfunction.
Imaging tests
These form the mainstay of diagnosis in Chronic pancreatitis and includeX rays - May show calcium stones distributed along the length of the glandCT Scan and MRI scans
Will help your physician identify the extent of disease and provide information regarding associated complications due to the disease like cyst formation and associated cancerous changes
Endoscopic ultrasound
Your doctor inserts a long lighted and flexible tube fitted with a mini ultrasound probe at its tip, through your oral cavity. Pancreatic structural abnormalities can be picked up and suspicious areas can be biopsied.
Treatment Procedures
You should understand that the disease is irreversible and the main intention of treatment is to get rid of your pain and improve digestive function. This involves
Medication
Endoscopy
Here, with the help of endoscopy, plastic tubes called stents can be inserted into the pancreatic duct to, improve flow of enzymes, sometimes remove stones causing blockage. They can also be helpful in treating pancreatic fluid leaks within the abdomen.
Surgical procedures
Surgery provides very good relief of symptoms like pain and malabsorption. Most patients who don’t find good improvement with medicines will need surgery at some point of time. Surgery involves opening the pancreatic duct, removing all stones and enabling better drainage of pancreatic enzymes into your intestines. Complications due to chronic pancreatitis may also be addressed by surgery.
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