Chronic pancreatitis natural history, complications and prognosis
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
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Overview
Natural History
- The natural history of pain is highly variable and mostly involves intermittent pain attacks that decrease or resolve over 5-25 years while a few patients may have chronic pain.
- The average duration from the onset of symptoms until the establishment of the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis in alcoholics is 62 months and 81 months in non-alcoholics.
- In alcohol-induced pancreatitis, the pain severity may be reduced by cessation of alcohol intake
Complications
- Diabetes
- Pseudocysts
- Bile duct or duodenal obstruction
- Pancreatic ascites
- Splenic vein thrombosis
- Pseudoaneurysms
Prognosis
Some patients with chronic pancreatitis often look very sick, while others don't appear to be unhealthy at all. Considerable weight loss, due to malabsorption, is evident in a high percentage of patients, and can continue to be a health problem as the condition progresses.