Symptoms and treatment of pancreatic diseases – the symptoms of pancreatic diseases are quite varied.
Inflammatory conditions may be accompanied by abdominal pain radiating to the back, nausea, vomiting, fever, a rapid heart rate and signs of multiple organ failure.
Purplish skin discolouration may appear on the back (mainly in the lumbar region) and around the navel. Painful, inflamed, reddish nodules may appear under the skin.
Gastrointestinal bleeding and blood in the urine may also occur. The inflammation is often so severe that the patient needs hospital treatment.
Chronic pancreatitis(chronic pancreatitis) is a disease that causes constant or recurring abdominal pain, digestive problems (bloating, fatty stools) and even diabetes as a late symptom.
Tumours, by contrast, remain hidden for a long time, as they develop almost entirely without symptoms.
By the time they cause symptoms (abdominal pain radiating to the back, weight loss, loss of appetite, jaundice, recurrent deep vein thromboses), the disease is usually already very advanced.
A fortunate exception may be smaller tumours in the pancreashead, next to the common bile duct– these cause jaundice relatively early (by compressing the bile duct), so they can be detected sooner.
Hormonally active pancreatic tumours can cause quite intense symptoms despite their small size, as a result of the hormonally active substances they produce.
The pancreasdiseases must always be treated by doctors, in hospital. Treatment includes temporary fasting, medication and, in some cases, surgery.
Tumours are treated primarily with surgery, but radiotherapy and chemotherapy may also be needed.
The aim of treatment is to rest the pancreasand relieve pain, and in the case of tumours, to remove the tumour tissue or reduce its amount.
The other cornerstone of treatment is replacing the missing pancreasenzymes with medication.
