Synonyms
Medical: pancreatitis inflammation of the pancreas English: pancreatitis, inflammation of the pancreas
Definition Pancreatitis
(Pancreas = pancreas) Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) is an inflammation of the pancreas. The inflammation of the pancreas can have several causes. It can be a single event (acute pancreatitis) or it can occur repeatedly (chronic pancreatitis). In addition to a disease of the bile ducts, the abuse of alcohol, for example, also plays an important role.
Causes
In addition, papillary carcinomas also lead to the development of pancreatitis. – Gall bladder (green)
- Pancreatic cancer (purple)
- Pancreatic duct (yellow)
- Pancreatic head (blue)
- Pancreatic body (Copus pancreaticus) (blue)
- Pancreas tail (blue)
- Bile duct (Ductus cysticus) (green)
How dangerous is the inflammation for me as a patient?
An inflammation of the pancreas can be acute or manifest itself as a chronic disease pattern. Symptoms include nausea and vomiting as well as belt-like pain around the abdomen. Pain in the upper abdomen is typical.
The most common cause of acute inflammation is obstruction of the outflow of digestive juices by a gallstone, whereas the chronic form develops mainly in connection with years of alcohol abuse. A certain potential danger emanates from the digestive juices released, which are intended, among other things, to break down fats. These can attack the pancreas itself or damage surrounding structures.
If, for example, the excretory duct is blocked by gallstones, the relatively aggressive secretion accumulates back into the pancreas and induces inflammation of the organ by induction. In the presence of acute inflammation, the permeability of the tissue barriers within the pancreas increases significantly, which leads to the escape of large quantities of fluid from the vessels into the inflamed pancreatic parenchyma and surrounding tissue. This results in a lack of fluid within the vessels, which causes typical side effects such as low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, fatigue or even headaches.
In addition, calcium is often removed from the blood, which is bound by the fatty acids released and is therefore no longer available to the rest of the body. This can be seen in the regular blood checks that are carried out in the sense of a calcium deficiency (hypocalcaemia), which is interpreted as an indication of a more serious course of the pancreatic inflammation, since only such a relevant amount of fatty acids is produced by the destruction of the tissue. The increasing destruction of the organ releases large quantities of inflammatory substances, which can secondarily cause a systemic inflammation (sepsis) and consequently a life-threatening clinical picture.
If chronic pancreatitis is present, the primary symptoms are often unspecific and only develop over a longer period of time. Much more common are deficiencies due to insufficient fat digestion and absorption, as well as secondary vitamin deficiencies. With increasing loss of tissue, the so-called endogenous pancreatic functions in the context of sugar metabolism also fail (occurs with more than 90% tissue loss).
For treatment, the respective missing enzymes and hormones can easily be replaced by medication; this is called substitution. The chronic inflammation of the pancreas is a relevant risk factor for the development of pancreatic cancer. In general, it is always accompanied by a significantly reduced life expectancy, although this is usually due to the other diseases of the affected person.
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