After studying the symptoms of chronic pancreatitis and patient's history, doctors always suggest changing daily habits. It includes quitting smoking and alcohol consumption, eating low-fat food, and regular intake of vitamins and enzymes tables. In short, treatment of this complication starts with improving the overall lifestyle.
Apart from this, some of the medical procedure for treating chronic pancreatitis involves the following points:
1. Insulin Therapy
The deficiency of producing natural insulin to control sucrose level in the blood causes diabetes. Hence, it is found that around 50% of patients suffering from chronic pancreatitis have instigated Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Therefore, in this case, as a primary treatment, patients are given regular insulin therapy to balance the level of blood sugar level.
2. Pain Management
Some of the powerful pain relief medications that doctors prescribe to relieve the pain are pregabalin and opioids. In some cases, patients are also offered prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen or naproxen.
3. Surgical Procedure
The excessive accumulation of digestive juices due to blockage in the duct increases abdominal pain to a severe level. It is in this chronic situation, doctors opt for surgical procedures to aid from this discomfort.
Some of the standard surgical procedures performed under the guidance of specialist doctors are
This procedure involves the insertion of a narrow flexible tube in the digestive tract. The entire process is seen through a small camera. This narrow tube inflates a small balloon into a duct, making it wider. At this step, a performing doctor places a stent to keep the mouth of the duct open. It is considered that the successful ratio of this surgery is 60%; however, most people opt for this surgical procedure.
This is the process of removing a part of the pancreas that is causing the infection and inflammation. The specialist physician uses any of the three techniques to carry out resection of the pancreas.
Frey Procedure
Beger Procedure
Pylorus-sparing pancreaticoduodenectomy
Doctors have suggested these techniques based on their medical records as these surgeries involve risk factors and are only performed in rare cases.
In this procedure, the whole pancreas is removed, which is one of the most effective ways of reducing pain. Along with the pancreas, gallbladder, common bile duct, spleen and a part of the small intestine are completely operated out. In most cases, transplantation of self-producing insulin cells of the patient is attached, which prevents him/her from becoming diabetic.