Acute Pancreatitis Case Study

Acute pancreatitis occurs when the pancreas becomes severely inflamed (Buttaro, Terry, Trybulski, Bailey, Sandberg-Cook, 2013). The patient with pancreatitis usually present with a dull, boring pain of steady onset that gradually intensified until its really severe. The pain is usually in the mid-epigastric or upper abdomen. But it can also be on the left or right side. The pain may also radiate through the abdomen to the back. The pain usually last more than a day. Other symptoms often include nausea, vomiting and anorexia, and diarrhea may also occur. Major causes associated with pancreatitis include binge alcohol consumption and biliary colic. other causes may include trauma from recent surgery and hyperlipidemia. Depending on the severity of pancreatitis, the physical examination may reveal abdominal tenderness, muscle guarding and distention, fever, tachycardia and hypotension (Gardner, 2015).
The mechanism by which pancreatitis occurs is not clearly understood. However, it is believed to be related to the auto-digestion of the pancreas. Trypsinogen which is an …show more content…
all patients should be aggressively hydrated with the first 24-48 hours with isotonic crystalloids unless they are contraindications. Patients with concurrent acute cholangitis should undergo endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERCP). Antibiotics is only recommended if there is an extra-pancreatic infection such as bacteremia or cholangitis. If the patient has mild acute pancreatitis without nausea and vomiting oral feeding may be started; solid low-fat diet may be started. Initially patient with mild acute pancreatitis were kept nothing by mouth (NPO) without no clinical evidence. Oral feeding has shown to shorten hospital stay. Patients with gallstones should have cholecystectomy before discharged (Tenner, Baillie, DeWitt & Swaroop,