Understanding Acute Pancreatitis Aids in Timely Precautions and Cure

If you experience mild pain in your tummy just under your ribs that tends to grow worse as the hours go by then chances of your suffering from acute pancreatitis are extremely high. Incidence of this condition can also be confirmed if the pain intensifies on consumption of food and waves of nausea and vomiting sweep over the victim. These symptoms may or may not be accompanied by swelling of stomach and slight fever but progressively worsen if the situation aggravates beyond a certain point.

Acute pancreatitis is a medical condition that is a fall-out of a number of factors primary amongst which are –

• Alcohol – Although research is yet to establish a direct connection between alcohol and acute pancreatitis, it has been observed once too often that drinking sessions are invariably followed by manifestation of symptoms within a few hours. The only variation here is the amount of alcohol since some people may experience abdominal pain after just a single drink while others may go through the same after having consumed gallons.


• Gallstones – Presence of gallstone at the opening of duct into the duodenum triggers acute pancreatitis since it hinders normal functioning of the organ and causes it to become inflamed owing to the irritation.


• Autoimmune conditions – An individual suffering from autoimmune conditions is likely to suffer from acute pancreatitis due to the pancreas coming under attack from the body’s immune system itself.


• Miscellaneous causes – Measles or HIV, contagions, genetic abnormality and unprecedentedly high calcium levels in the body lead to acute pancreatitis.

Treatment of acute pancreatitis begins as soon as the physician confirms that the pain and symptoms cannot be attributed to any other factor. For this the patient is made to undergo several tests as also an ultrasound scan and once the pancreatic condition is detected, he is admitted into the hospital for a few days.

Usually analgesics are administered to the patient to ease the pain and a drip is attached to maintain the water balance of the body till normalcy returns. Your doctor might also insert a catheter in order to monitor urine formation and its ejection from the body but in case the situation aggravates drastic measures are in order. Admission in intensive care unit is the first step followed by administering of antibiotics and surgery in case the internal damage is severe.

Prognosis in case of acute pancreatitis is usually good and patients recover fully but whether it strikes again is something that depends on the presence of a root cause. In such a situation, recovery can only be achieved by identifying and successfully uprooting the cause so that probability of further attacks is minimized.

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