What are the symptoms of chronic pancreatitis?

Patients should be alert to the symptoms of chronic pancreatitis because they have not received effective treatment due to the impact of this disease and the damage caused is relatively large. Common symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, and possible gastrointestinal symptoms.

1. Abdominal pain

Up to 90% of patients experience varying degrees of abdominal pain, which occurs every few months or years and is persistent pain. It is mostly located in the upper and middle abdomen and is dull or lacking pain. It may also be biased to the left or right, often radiating to the back. The location of pain is consistent with the location of inflammation. According to experiments, when the head of the pancreas is electrically stimulated, pain occurs in the right upper abdomen, and when the tail of the pancreas is stimulated, pain occurs in the left upper abdomen. In addition to radiating to the back, a small amount radiates to the lower chest, kidney area and testicles. If the diaphragm is affected, there may be radiating pain in the shoulder. The pain is continuous and deep. In mild cases, there is only a feeling of heaviness or burning. There is rarely a cramping feeling. Drinking alcohol and high-fat, high-protein diets can induce symptoms, and severe pain is accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The abdominal pain in this type of patient is often characterized by body position. The patient prefers to lie in a curled-up position, sit or lean forward, and the abdominal pain worsens when lying flat or standing upright.

2. Diarrhea

Patients with mild symptoms do not have diarrhea symptoms, but patients with severe symptoms have excessive destruction of the alveoli and reduced secretion, which leads to symptoms. Symptoms include abdominal distension and diarrhea, 3 to 4 bowel movements a day, large amounts of stool, light color, shiny surface with bubbles, foul odor, and mostly acidic reaction. Due to fat digestion and absorption disorders, the amount of fat in feces increases. In addition, there are undigested muscle fibers in the feces. Due to the massive loss of fat and protein, patients become emaciated, weak, and malnourished.

3. Others

Some indigestion symptoms such as abdominal distension, decreased appetite, nausea, fatigue, and weight loss are common in patients with severe pancreatic damage. If the pancreatic islets are significantly affected, glucose metabolism may be affected, and about 10% of patients will have obvious symptoms of diabetes. In addition, people with biliary diseases or bile duct obstruction may have jaundice. Pseudocyst formation may palpate an abdominal mass. A small number of patients may develop pancreatic ascites. In addition, chronic pancreatitis may cause upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The reason is that pancreatic fibrosis or cyst formation compresses the splenic vein, which may cause portal vein thrombosis and portal hypertension. Patients with chronic pancreatitis are more likely to develop peptic ulcer. People who continue to drink excessively may develop alcoholic gastric mucosal damage. Multiple fat necrosis may occur in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Subcutaneous fat necrosis often occurs in the limbs and may form hard nodules under the skin.