Chronic Pancreatitis Treatment

Pancreatitis is the ongoing inflammation of the pancreas.  If it does not heal or improve or gets worse over time it is considered chronic.  Long term pancreatitis can lead to permanent damage of the pancreas.

Chronic Pancreatitis treatment usually has several goals.   When first coming to a hospital a person suffering from this problem will first under go tests to determine the cause of the abdominal pain and recieve pain meds to alleviate the intense pain.

Doctors will try to identify behaviors that might exacerbate the natural history of the disease and work to modify them.  If the patient is a heavy drinker, one of the main causes of pancreatitis, they may be referred to services to try and stop the drinking.

In the hospital it is normal to deny the patient food and water to allow the pancreas time to cool down and heal itself as much as possible.  Doctors may use introvenious feeding during this period.

In my case, I usually have chronic pancreatitis that is always bubbling in the background with occassional flare ups where I need medical attention.

The doctors have prescribed pain pills for me that I can use to manage smaller flare ups and Creon as a replacement for the pancreatic enzymes that my pancreas is making less of to help maintain my digestion of foods.

If the flare up causes more pain than I can handle at home I head for the hospital for closer care and observation.