To understand KBs diagnoses of pancreatitis it is first important to understand the function of the pancreas. The pancreas works as both an exocrine and endocrine gland. The endocrine portion of the pancreas includes the production of Insulin from beta cells, and glucagon from alpha cells which are released into the bloodstream to help regulate blood sugars.1 The pancreas works as an exocrine organ by secreting digestive enzymes that are released into the duodenum through the common bile duct along with bile from the gall bladder. 1 Some of the enzymes the pancreas secretes include bicarb, lipase, amylase, trypsin, and proteases all to help aid in the digestion of food as it travels through the gastrointestinal tract. Pancreatitis occurs when
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Acute pancreatitis symptoms will most likely begin very abruptly and usually starts with constant abdominal pain that can radiate to the back and sometimes the chest.1 Ingestion of food often makes the symptoms worse and if left untreated acute pancreatitis can lead to severe …show more content…
This can be due to the fact that the pancreas will stop producing pancreatic enzymes over time. It is common for patients to loss weight if they are experiencing chronic pancreatitis due to malabsorption from improper use and secretion of pancreatic enzymes.1 To diagnose pancreatitis it is important for the physician to do a complete and throughout medical exam as well as an in depth medical history. Standard labs can be performed to help diagnose a patient with pancreatitis, but this can often be misleading since many signs and symptoms of pancreatitis are very similar to other disease states.1 More advanced testing is often needed to clearly diagnose pancreatitis and that could include a computed tomography (CT), abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an ultrasound, a colonoscopy, or an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).1 Measuring amylase, trypsin, and lipase levels are commonly used to help diagnose pancreatitis. Presence of fat in a patient's stool can be another very telling sign of pancreatitis since in chronic pancreatitis fat is unable to be digested, thus it leaves the body through the form of stool.1 Pancreatitis usually improves on its own but patients are often admitted to the hospital to receive intravenous fluids (IVF). Being placed on an NPO or nothing by mouth diet is common since eating can stimulate even more production of pancreatic
Acute pancreatitis symptoms will most likely begin very abruptly and usually starts with constant abdominal pain that can radiate to the back and sometimes the chest.1 Ingestion of food often makes the symptoms worse and if left untreated acute pancreatitis can lead to severe …show more content…
This can be due to the fact that the pancreas will stop producing pancreatic enzymes over time. It is common for patients to loss weight if they are experiencing chronic pancreatitis due to malabsorption from improper use and secretion of pancreatic enzymes.1 To diagnose pancreatitis it is important for the physician to do a complete and throughout medical exam as well as an in depth medical history. Standard labs can be performed to help diagnose a patient with pancreatitis, but this can often be misleading since many signs and symptoms of pancreatitis are very similar to other disease states.1 More advanced testing is often needed to clearly diagnose pancreatitis and that could include a computed tomography (CT), abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an ultrasound, a colonoscopy, or an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).1 Measuring amylase, trypsin, and lipase levels are commonly used to help diagnose pancreatitis. Presence of fat in a patient's stool can be another very telling sign of pancreatitis since in chronic pancreatitis fat is unable to be digested, thus it leaves the body through the form of stool.1 Pancreatitis usually improves on its own but patients are often admitted to the hospital to receive intravenous fluids (IVF). Being placed on an NPO or nothing by mouth diet is common since eating can stimulate even more production of pancreatic