What discomfort can acute pancreatitis cause to the body?

The occurrence of acute pancreatitis is generally caused by multiple diseases, so the patient's physical health must be less than ideal. The occurrence of acute pancreatitis can actually cause great harm to the body. Patients will experience symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, fever, jaundice, etc. These types of symptoms are actually very uncomfortable for patients, so it is still necessary to receive timely treatment to avoid harm to the body.

Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory reaction caused by the activation of pancreatic enzymes in the pancreas due to various causes, leading to self-digestion, edema, bleeding and even necrosis of pancreatic tissue. The clinical symptoms are acute upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and increased blood pancreatic enzymes. The severity of the lesions varies. In mild cases, pancreatic edema is the main symptom. It is common in clinical practice, and the condition is often self-limited with a good prognosis. It is also called mild acute pancreatitis. A small number of severe cases suffer from pancreatic hemorrhage and necrosis, often followed by infection, peritonitis, and shock, with a high mortality rate, which is called severe acute pancreatitis. Clinical pathology often divides acute pancreatitis into two types: edema type and hemorrhagic necrotic type.

(1) Abdominal pain: Acute pancreatitis usually presents with a sudden onset of symptoms, characterized by severe upper abdominal pain that often radiates to the shoulders and back. Patients may feel a "bandage-like" sensation in the upper abdomen and lower back. The location of abdominal pain is related to the site of the lesion. For example, if the lesion is severe in the head of the pancreas, the abdominal pain is mainly in the right upper abdomen and radiates to the right shoulder; if the lesion is in the tail of the pancreas, the abdominal pain is more severe in the left upper abdomen and radiates to the left shoulder. The intensity of pain is often consistent with the extent of the lesion. If it is edematous pancreatitis, the abdominal pain is mostly persistent with paroxysmal aggravation, which can be relieved by acupuncture or injection of antispasmodic drugs. If it is hemorrhagic pancreatitis, the abdominal pain is very severe, often accompanied by shock, and it is difficult to relieve the pain by general analgesic methods.

(2) Nausea and vomiting: It occurs at the beginning of the disease, and its characteristic is that vomiting cannot relieve abdominal pain. The frequency of vomiting is also consistent with the severity of the lesion. In edematous pancreatitis, there is not only nausea, but also vomiting 1 to 3 times; in hemorrhagic pancreatitis, vomiting is severe or continuous and frequent retching.

(3) Systemic symptoms: may include fever, jaundice, etc. The degree of fever is often consistent with the severity of the disease. Edema pancreatitis may not cause fever or only mild fever; hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis may cause high fever. If the fever does not subside, complications may occur, such as pancreatic abscess. The occurrence of jaundice may be due to concurrent biliary disease or compression of the common bile duct by the enlarged head of the pancreas.