Pancreatitis

What is pancreas?

Pancreas is an organ situated in posterior aspect of the abdomen just above the level of umbilicus. It produces various substances having variety of functions in the body. It helps in digesting food, control the sugar level in the blood and other various functions.

What is pancreatitis?

Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas in which the swells and get damaged.

Why does pancreatitis occur?

There are many reasons for pancreatitis; the most common are taking alcohol and stones in the gall bladder. High level of fat in blood can also cause pancreatitis. In India there is a type of pancreatitis occurs for which the exact cause is not found.

What are the symptoms of pancreatitis?

Symptoms varies from mild to life threatening one. Pain in the abdomen going to the back, nausea, vomiting, fever and swelling of the abdomen are common symptoms.

Does it require any investigation?

Yes, to confirm the diagnosis it requires certain blood investigations and imaging study of the abdomen like sonography and CT scan.

What is the treatment of pancreatitis?

It requires hospital admission; your doctor will give you intravenous fluid, pain killer and other medicines. If you are not able to take oral diet, you may be given feeding through a tube. Sometimes pancreas gets infected; in that case it requires antibiotics. If the condition is severe, you may be shifted to ICU. Sometimes part of or whole pancreas becomes dead, in that situation your doctor may advise to place a tube into your abdomen or surgery.

To whom should I consult for the treatment?

Pancreatitis is better treated by specialist gastroenterology department because it is a complex disease which affects other part of the body also. Pancreatitis treatment requires multidisciplinary approach with Intensive care unit.

Is there any complication of pancreatitis?

Pancreatitis can be mild or can be life threatening. It can cause infection, collection of fluid in abdomen, and can affect other organs like kidneys, lungs as well intra abdominal organs. You may develop repeated attacks of pancreatitis.

How to prevent repeated attacks?

If you are taking alcohol, you should stop it immediately. Avoiding the alcohol significantly reduce the risk of repeated attacks. If you have stones in the gallbladder, you should get gallbladder removed as soon as possible. Other known causes of pancreatitis like high fat level in blood should be treated.

Source: http://gisurgery.info