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Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The most certain symptomatic manifestation of gallstones is episodic upper abdominal pain. Characteristically, this pain is severe and located in the epigastrium and/or the right upper quadrant. The onset is relatively abrupt and often awakens the patient from sleep. The pain is steady in intensity, may radiate to the upper back, be associated with nausea and lasts for hours to up to a day. Dyspeptic symptoms of indigestion, belching, bloating, abdominal discomfort, heartburn and specific food intolerance are common in persons with gallstones, but are probably unrelated to the stones themselves and frequently persist after surgery. Many, if not most, persons with gallstones have no history of pain attacks. Persons discovered to have gallstones in the absence of typical symptoms appear to have an annual incidence of biliary pain of 2-5% during the initial years of follow-up, with perhaps a declining rate thereafter. Gallstone-related complications occur at a rate of less than 1% annually. Those whose stones are symptomatic at discovery have a more severe course, with approximately 6-10% suffering recurrent symptoms each year and 2% biliary complications. The far higher rates of symptom development reported in a few studies raise the possibility that these incidence estimates may be too low. The best predictors of future biliary pain are a history of pain at the time of diagnosis, female gender and possibly obesity. The risk of acute cholecystitis appears to be greater in those with large solitary stones, that of biliary pancreatitis in those with multiple small stones, and that of gallbladder cancer in those with large stones of any number. Drugs that inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins may now be the treatment of choice in patients with gallstones who are suffering acute pain attacks. Persistent dyspeptic symptoms occur frequently following cholecystectomy. A prolonged history of such symptoms prior to surgery and evidence of significant psychological distress appear to be the best predictors of unsatisfactory outcome.
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PMID:Symptoms of gallstone disease. 148 6

Transhepatic cholangiography (THC) was performed in 107 patients who had nondilated intrahepatic bile ducts on computed tomography (CT) or ultrasound. The cholangiogram was diagnostic in 72 patients (67%). Thirty-one (43%) of the 72 diagnostic studies were abnormal and showed poor emptying, stones, or strictures. Twenty-three (21%) complications occurred, including two deaths. Sixteen patients experienced acute pain, requiring additional narcotics. There was one case of peritonitis and pancreatitis, and two of bacteremia. We compared our success and complication rates to those of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) reported in the literature. We conclude that when a bile duct abnormality is clinically suspected, the incidence of pathology is sufficiently high to warrant direct visualization of the ducts in order to make an anatomic diagnosis, even if the intrahepatic ducts are not dilated. However, ERC has a better success rate and fewer complications than THC and it should be the initial invasive procedure.
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PMID:Transhepatic cholangiography in patients with suspected biliary disease and nondilated intrahepatic bile ducts. 187 32

Acute pain in the upper abdomen in a patient recovering from pancreatitis or abdominal trauma may herald a pancreatic pseudocyst. Although small cysts resolve spontaneously, those larger than 6 cm across usually require treatment to prevent such complications as rupture into adjacent structures and infection. The authors describe operative and nonoperative treatment methods and the success reported with each.
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PMID:Pancreatic pseudocysts. When to drain, when to wait. 200 Mar 54

Chronic relapsing pancreatitis is a disease of recurring acute episodes of severe upper abdominal pain which are progressive and gradually may become so severe and so frequent as to be intractable. Early in the disease the function of the gland and of the islet tissue may be disturbed only at the time of the acute attack, but subsequently these changes may become permanent and manifested by steatorrhea, creatorrhea and diabetes mellitus. The results of studies of pancreatic function parallel those of the pathologic process, and calcification of the pancreas is common. Medical treatment is generally disappointing. Paravertebral injections may control acute pain. Surgical therapy is none too satisfactory. Long continued biliary drainage, anastomosis between the common bile duct and duodenum and between the pancreatic duct and duodenum, section of the sphincter of Oddi, partial and total pancreatectomy and sympathectomy, splanchnicectomy and vagotomy have been helpful in relieving pain and in preventing the recurrence of attacks in some instances.
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PMID:Chronic relapsing pancreatitis. 1541 Jan 40

Over the past year considerable progress has been made in the field of pancreatic surgery. Innovative diagnostic techniques continue to improve the preoperative staging of pancreatic cancer. For patients with cancer and biliary obstruction, preoperative biliary stenting appears to increase the incidence of wound infection after pancreatoduodenectomy but has no effect on other perioperative complications. New information about the molecular biology of pancreatic cancer may begin to influence the surgical approach to the disease. More cases of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms are being diagnosed and studied. The impact of adjuvant chemotherapy and chemoradiation on survival has been more clearly defined in a large, randomized trial. In patients with sterile acute necrotizing pancreatitis, conservative nonsurgical management has continued to produce favorable results. For chronic pancreatitis, surgery appears to diminish both chronic pain and recurrent episodes of acute pain.
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PMID:Pancreatic surgery. 1703 35

A growing patient population is adolescents and young adults who have had one or more serious medical problems and are aging into adulthood. This group of patients has unique medical needs, which has resulted in the development of a specialized area of medicine: transitional care medicine. The case reviews of two of these patients are described. Patient 1 was a 23-year-old man with hereditary pancreatitis. His genetic condition resulted in the need for pancreatic splenectomy and removal of part of his small bowel, resulting in insulin-dependent diabetes and malnutrition. These complex clinical issues and the challenges of chronic pain were further complicated by severe anxiety disorder and substance abuse. He presented to the University of Rochester Medical Center's Complex Care Center (CCC), an interdisciplinary clinic that provides care for adults with pediatric onset conditions, staffed with both dentists and physicians, with acute pain from a grossly decayed premolar tooth. His blood glucose measured > 500 mg/dL and he was experiencing an acute episode of anxiety. With the expertise and experience of center staff his care needs could be met. Patient 2 was a 32-year-old woman with chronic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, drug-associated lupus, and mental health problems including depression. This condition requires her to be managed with broad spectrum immunosuppression to prevent joint inflammation that results in significant joint destruction and bone loss. She presented to the CCC with an abscessed molar tooth, which prevented her from receiving her required immunotherapy, IV tocilizamab. While monitored by on-site physicians, a center dentist could safely proceed with the extraction. These cases illustrate that, as the population of transitional care patients grows, general dentists can learn to work on-site with physicians and allied health per-sonnel to meet the need.
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PMID:Multidisciplinary dentistry for transitional care patients. 3034 5