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Frequent questions | |
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He asks the doctor | |
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Beginning | |
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PANCREATITIS | |
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 DEFINITION YOU CAUSE SYMPTOMS DIAGNOSIS COMPLICATIONS TREATMENT TO CONSULT |
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It is called pancreatitis to the inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is an elongated gland and a cone that is behind the stomach. It serves to make and to segregate digestive enzymes, as well as the hormones insulin and glucagón.
All the types of pancreatitis bear annoyance and inflammation of the pancreas, of passing form or with permanent damage. The basic types of pancreatitis are two: 1. Sharp Pancreatitis. Sharp inflammation of the pancreas that is solved by the correct treatment, without leaving aftermath. In 80 % of the cases it owes to illnesses of the biliary routes or to alcoholism. 20 % remainder owes to medicines, infections, some explorations (on the proper pancreas) or surgical interventions in the abdomen (stomach, biliary route). It tends to recur, with more and more permanent damages, turning so into a chronic pancreatitis. 2. Chronic Pancreatitis. Inflammation of the pancreas, with persistent damage still after having eliminated the cause and to have controlled the clinical symptoms. The most frequent cause is the alcoholism. Any way a pancreatitis episode consists of the fact that the enzymes of the pancreas activate massively, causing death of the proper pancreatic textile and often, a hemorrhage about the dead textile. The pancreatitis is serious, and without treatment it can go so far as to cause the death of the person affected in a few days. The typical pancreatitis symptoms are those of a sharp abdomen, that is to say, those of a picture of maximum abdominal pain similar to that of a perforation or a peritonitis, of sudden beginning and that lasts from a few hours until several days. He accompanies himself of morning sickness, vomiting, febrícula and important general discomfort. Physical examination. Pain and sensibility on having felt the abdomen. Gravity. Pancreatic enzymes in blood. He attends in the blood of enormous quantities of amilasa and lipasa pancreatic, especially the first day. Other blood tests. The white globules are increased in the blood, and there can be low the glycemia (sugar in blood) and the calcium. The bilirrubina can rise. X-ray studies. They are usually necessary a simple radiography of abdomen, an abdominal ultrasound scan or an axial scanner computarizada (TAC or Scanner) to discard other causes of sharp abdomen and to detect underlying causes of pancreatitis. All these procedures are painless. Studies endoscópicos. It can be necessary to verify the permeability of the papilla or blisters (the little hole for which there drain his contents to the digestive pipe both the pancreas and the biliary vesicle), by means of a procedure that there includes an endoscopia (exploration of the digestive pipe with a flexible optical fibre pipe) and a few radiographies with contrast. This mixed procedure (CPRE) is called colangiopancreatografía reactionary endoscópica, and it can turn out to be uncomfortable. The pancreatitis is a serious picture, which can be complicated quickly, and without treatment it can go so far as to cause the death of the person affected in a few days. The precocious death can owe to shock (descent of persistent tension that can damage the kidney and the heart), renal insufficiency (incapability of the kidney to make urine), or respiratory insufficiency. After the first week, still there exist very important possibilities of complication, like the infection of the dead pancreatic textile, or the called pancreatic pseudocyst: collection of pancreatic liquid rich in enzymes, separated from the surrounding organs for a fibrous capsule, which in turn can break and/or become infected. 1. Sharp Pancreatitis. It is a medical urgency, and the treatment consists in: 2. Chronic Pancreatitis. The episodes of aggravation of a chronic pancreatitis talk each other just as the sharp pancreatitis. Later, it is essential to leave forever the alcohol. There can be necessary the treatment of the chronic pain with analgesics, antacids or pancreatic enzymes. 3. Complicated Pancreatitis. The complications as the pseudocyst or the secondary infection usually need surgery. |
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