For many people, the pancreas starts to fail, its inflammation occurs, which occurs due to a violation of the output of bile. Biliary pancreatitis develops, which most often affects adults. This disease is treatable, but subject to timely medical attention and compliance with all necessary requirements. Thanks to the effective treatment of the pancreas, the patient quickly returns to his usual way of life.
Features of the disease
Biliary pancreatitis occurs with gallstone disease. It develops as a result of throwing fluid into the pancreatic ducts, causing inflammation. This process indicates a malfunction in the gallbladder.
In a healthy person, the pressure in the ducts of this organ is much lower than the level of pressure in the ducts of the pancreas. Its increase indicates the occurrence of an obstacle that does not allow bile to properly carry out its current. This may be due to obstruction of the ducts, most often with stones. All this leads to the throwing of fluid into the pancreas.
The causes of the disease
This pathology can occur for various reasons. Consider the most basic.
If a person suffers from gallstone disease, then often with this disease digestive juice begins to stagnate due to clogging of the ducts with stones. All this leads to an increase in pressure in these ways, contributing to the injection of fluid into the pancreas.
With cholecystitis, an inflammatory process occurs on the surface of the gallbladder, preventing the juice from flowing normally.
It promotes the development of biliary pancreatitis and cholangitis, which is an uncharacteristic inflammation of the ducts that has arisen due to impaired bile duct obstruction and infection of the secretion.
The above diseases in combination with biliary pancreatitis cause the following changes in the pancreas:
- inflammation and degeneration;
- proliferation of connective tissue cells;
- violations in her work.
But not only these causes contribute to the onset of the disease. Attacks most often occur among lovers of good food. Such food can serve as a kind of provocateur of spasms of the gallbladder and contributes to swelling of the pancreas. In addition, pancreatitis develops due to overeating, eating stale or spoiled food.
How does the disease progress?
Biliary pancreatitis can have a chronic and acute form. The latter arises from the use of such food, which stimulates all digestion processes. It can be fried meat pies, carbonated drinks, mouth-watering snacks, fried meat.
Such food has never been considered healthy, as it promotes the movement of stones, which can close the ducts in the gallbladder. Patients with a chronic course of the disease, observing moderation in their diet, can prevent the occurrence of biliary pancreatitis.
The course of biliary pathology depends on the action of stones located in the bile duct. If they are small in size and pass well into the duodenum, then the patient's condition quickly improves. If the movement of stones along the duct is difficult, then in this case you can fear for the life of the patient.
Symptoms of Biliary Pancreatitis
The signs of this disease, especially against the background of stagnation of bile, are quite diverse, so this pathology is difficult to diagnose.
Thus, if the patient has biliary pancreatitis, its symptoms may be as follows:
- The occurrence of aching pain throughout the upper abdomen, which can give in the back or in the hypochondrium. Most often, pain occurs after eating fatty, fried or smoked foods. Its strengthening occurs at night or two hours after eating.
- Persistent bitter taste in the oral cavity.
- Nausea, vomiting.
- Diarrhea, constipation, or flatulence.
- Body temperature may rise slightly.
Acute biliary pancreatitis is characterized by sharp pains in the hypochondrium, arising due to smooth muscle spasms that provoke the stone, and chronic - aching pain syndrome that lasts for a rather long time.
In addition, with a chronic form of the disease, jaundice symptoms may occur , since the bile ducts are impassable and the digestive juice enters the circulatory system. In this case, the whites of the eyes and skin turn yellow. In this case, treatment should be started immediately, because everything can end very sadly.
Diagnosis of the disease
The patient must pass a clinical and biochemical blood test. In chronic biliary pancreatitis, there is an increase in the level of bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase and cholesterol, and the ratio of basic proteins, on the contrary, decreases. In urine and blood, the level of amylase increases 3-6 times.
An ultrasound of the pancreas and an ultrasound of the hepatobiliary system are required to determine the presence of stones in the ducts, and the general condition of the pancreas is assessed.
Effective methods such as intraductal or endoscopic ultrasound are prescribed to identify stones.
CT of the biliary tract is considered the most informative method , especially if a contrast agent is administered. MRPCH and ERCP are also used to diagnose diseases of pancreatic and bile ducts.
Pathology treatment
Treatment of biliary pancreatitis is carried out under the supervision of a gastroenterologist, endoscopist and surgeon. So that the disease does not progress further, and also in order to prevent exacerbations, the underlying disease is treated.
If chronic pathology has turned into acute biliary pancreatitis, treatment should be carried out only in a hospital. The acute form is treated comprehensively, with the use of drug therapy and dietary nutrition.
Biliary pancreatitis in the acute stage proceeds with a strong pain syndrome, which is removed with the help of analgesics and antispasmodics. Also, correction of the internal and external secretory function of the pancreas is carried out, detoxification, the prevention of infectious complications is carried out using antibiotics.
With exacerbation in the first three days, therapeutic fasting and the use of non-carbonated alkaline mineral water are necessary. After the diet is resumed, fats are necessarily limited in the diet, carbohydrates should also be controlled.
To reduce the destructive effect of activated pancreatic enzymes, somatostatin, protease inhibitors, proton pump inhibitors are prescribed. A doctor may also prescribe microspherical enzymes that help restore pancreatic enzymatic dysfunction. To make blood sugar normal, sugar-lowering drugs are prescribed.
Once the acute attack is relieved, the attending physician may suggest surgery to remove the stones. It is carried out in two ways: cut the upper abdominal wall (laparotomy) or make two small punctures in the abdominal wall (laparoscopy).
Possible complications
If biliary pancreatitis is treated correctly, the patient will quickly return to his usual way of life. With an advanced disease, stones can move into the bile ducts. If the disease is left to chance and nothing is done, then this will lead to a deterioration of the gastrointestinal tract. Each time the pain will only intensify, especially after eating junk food.
In addition, a running disease can go into parenchymal pancreatitis. This may threaten the patient with the following:
- long-term treatment in a hospital setting;
- extensive surgery;
- duration of rehabilitation therapy;
- the strictest diet almost all my life.
To prevent the occurrence of biliary pancreatitis, it is necessary to observe a healthy lifestyle, eat right and completely abandon alcohol.
Diet
If biliary pancreatitis occurs , the diet must be rational. During the day, the patient should eat 4-5 times, while the volume of one serving should be no more than 250 ml. Smoked, fried and fatty foods are strictly prohibited.
During the diet, the amount of protein should be increased by 25%. Thus, a patient should eat 120 g of protein products per day. But the amount of fat, on the contrary, must be reduced by 20%, and during the day their intake should not exceed 80 g. The intake of carbohydrates should also be reduced, and it should be 350 g per day. The amount of sugar is recommended to be reduced by 2 times from the required norm.
Output
Chronic biliary pancreatitis (especially acute form) is a very serious disease. It is important to correctly diagnose this pathology and start treatment in a timely manner, since seizures will continue to become more frequent, causing a lot of suffering. Forever get rid of biliary pancreatitis helps only surgery.