Pancreatitis

Signs and Symptoms

Acute pancreatitis
About 80% of acute pancreatitis attacks are mild, although they may cause the sudden onset of severe abdominal pain, sickness, vomiting, weakness and jaundice. Attacks cause local inflammation, swelling, and haemorrhage that usually gets better with supportive treatment and does little or no permanent damage. About 20% of the time complications develop, such as tissue necrosis, infection, hypotension (low blood pressure), difficulty breathing, shock, and kidney or liver failure. It is important to see your doctor if you have symptoms that suggest pancreatitis because symptom severity does not necessarily reflect the amount of damage that may be occurring and because other conditions that require different treatments may cause similar symptoms. 

Chronic pancreatitis
Patients with chronic pancreatitis may have recurring attacks with symptoms similar to those of acute pancreatitis; these attacks increase in frequency as the condition progresses. Pain with chronic pancreatitis may be intermittent or become severe and continuous. It may be made worse by eating, drinking particularly alcohol. Over time, the pancreas tissue becomes increasingly scarred and the cells that produce digestive enzymes are destroyed, causing pancreatic insufficiency (inability to produce enzymes to digest fats and proteins). There is often weight loss, malnutrition, ascites, the development of pancreatic pseudocysts (fluid pools and destroyed tissue that can become infected) and fatty stools. As the cells that produce insulin and glucagon are destroyed, the patient may become permanently diabetic. Patients with chronic pancreatitis have an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.