Pancreatitis is a painful ailment that can be life-threatening. If you suffer a serious attack, your doctor may hospitalize you and initiate a regime of complete digestive rest. While you are unable to eat, you may receive nutrition via a stomach tube, which your doctor may insert either through your nose or directly through your abdominal wall. This tube will deliver a mixture that contains proteins and simple carbohydrates to provide energy to help your body fight the infection and heal.
Pancreatitis
The pancreas is a large, triangular-shaped organ located behind your stomach that produces enzymes and hormones your body uses for digestion and blood sugar control. Pancreatitis occurs when the digestive enzymes become prematurely active while still inside your pancreas. This damages the organ and causes inflammation. A mild case may go away without treatment, but acute pancreatitis can be life-threatening and requires medical intervention. Symptoms of an acute case include abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, indigestion, sensitivity to touch in the abdominal area, unexplained weight loss and oily, smelly stools.
Hospitalization
Acute cases of pancreatitis usually require hospitalization and complete rest of the digestive tract. If you suffer such an attack, your doctors probably will place you in nil per os, or NPO, status, which means you may not ingest anything orally, including water or ice chips. You likely will receive intravenous fluids immediately, and your doctor will decide if you need additional nutrition, which you may receive either intravenously or via a stomach tube.
Stomach Tube
If your doctor decides you need supplemental nutrition, you may receive a paracutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy, or PEG/J, which is a tube that goes through your abdominal skin and into your stomach. A second tube extends from your stomach into your small intestine. You will receive food and medication through the second tube, directly into your intestine. The tube that extends into your stomach is only for emptying your stomach if this becomes necessary. Alternatively, your doctor may use a nasojejunal tube, which enters through your nose, passes through the stomach, and ends inside your small intestine. These systems deliver nutrition directly to your small intestine to avoid stimulating the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes, which would worsen your condition. This type of nutrition presents a lower risk of infection and blood clots than intravenous feeding, according to experts at the Baylor College of Medicine.
Prognosis
Most cases of acute pancreatitis resolve with digestive rest. You probably will be able to resume an oral diet within two days. In the longer term, however, if you have repeated episodes of pancreatitis, you may develop chronic pancreatitis, a condition in which scar tissue affects the function of your pancreas. This may lead to diabetes, kidney failure, low blood oxygen, malnutrition, chronic infection or pancreatic cancer. It also may cause you to develop pseudocysts, "pockets" resembling cysts that trap debris and fluid. These pockets may rupture and cause infection or internal bleeding.
Lifestyle Changes
To decrease your risk of future attacks of pancreatitis, adopt a a low-fat diet, avoid alcohol and quit smoking. If you suffer from chronic pancreatitis, meditation, yoga and relaxation techniques may help you to cope with the pain.
References
- University of Virginia: PEG/J Tube Guidelines for Patients with Pancreatitis
- Baylor College of Medicine: UTH Gastroenterology Grand Rounds
- "Journal of the Pancreas"; Nasogastric Tube Feeding in Predicted Severe Acute Pancreatitis, A Systematic Review of the Literature to Determine Safety and Tolerance; Maxim S. Petrov, M. Isabel T.D. Correia and John A. Windsor; July 2008
- MayoClinic.com: Pancreatitis
- "The American Heritage Medical Dictionary"; NPO; Houghton Mifflin Company; 2007
