Chronic pancreatitis: about some complications and features of their pathogenesis and course

The review article provides up-to-date information on the complications of pancreatitis that are important for the tactics and strategy of patient management both at the inpatient and outpatient stages of observation. The purpose of the review was to emphasize the importance of complications for the course and life of patients with chronic pancreatitis. The authors draw the attention of internists to the course of such complications as pseudocysts, cysts, fistulas, thrombohemorrhagic, cholestatic syndromes, compression syndrome of adjacent organs, pancreatic encephalopathy (acute and chronic). The symptomatology of complications of chronic pancreatitis is discussed in detail, which is very important for differential diagnosis with the corresponding diseases. Such complications include the formation of erosive and ulcerative lesions, varicose veins of the esophagus and bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach, portal hypertension syndrome with pancreatic ascites and chronic pancreatic encephalopathy, idio­pathic non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, pancreatic cancer. The authors emphasize the need to analyze the corresponding symptoms, indicating the possibility of complications, negative consequences with each recurrence or exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis, since it concerns the prognosis and life of the patient.

Safety and Efficacy of Early Endotherapy in Management of Pancreatic Ascites: Western Indian Experience.

Background Pancreatic ascites is rare but a known complication of pancreatitis. We aimed to study the timings, safety, and efficacy of therapeutic approaches in its management and the outcomes. Methods We retrospectively studied patients with pancreatic ascites managed in the past 5 years at a single tertiary care center. Therapeutic approaches included conservative therapy, early endoscopic therapy, and surgery. We used descriptive statistics to summarize characteristics of the study population, and performed univariate and binary logistic regression analyses to compare treatment outcomes. Results Of the 125 patients screened, 70 (male, 81.4%) were included. Disruption in the pancreatic duct (PD) was seen in 51.4% of patients on magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and 73.3% of patients on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). The PD in the body region (46.7%) was the most frequent site of disruption. Early endotherapy included a stent bridging the disruption site in 63.3% of patients and sphincterotomy in 76.7% of patients with a median time to ERCP from symptom onset being 8.5 days. The success rate in early endotherapy was 81.7%, while the recurrence rate was 8%. For conservative therapy only, the success rate was 60% with recurrence in two-thirds. The variables crucial in the success of endotherapy were a partial disruption (p < 0.001), ductal disruption site (p = 0.004), sphincterotomy (p = 0.013), and a bridging stent (p = 0.001). Significant pancreatic necrosis (p < 0.001) and intraductal calculi (p = 0.002) were the factors responsible for failure in endotherapy. Conclusions Early endotherapy is safe and effective in the treatment of pancreatic ascites. The efficacy of endotherapy is augmented by PD stenting combined with pancreatic sphincterotomy and a bridging stent.

Acute Pancreatitis with Large Infected Pseudo Pancreatic Cyst in a Post-Partum Female – Case Report

A frequent cause for patient presentation to the emergency department and the most serious gastrointestinal condition resulting in admission is acute pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is an inflammatory process within the pancreas. Although the disease is mostly mild, the mortality rate of severe forms may be up to 30 percent. Two of the following three criteria are required for diagnosis: epigastric abdominal pain, elevated lipase, and pancreatic inflammation on imaging.1 The occurrence of acute pancreatitis is approximately 1 in 1000 to 5000 births and is commonly seen in the last weeks of gestation or in post-partum period. Cholelithiasis, which accounts for more than 65 percent of cases, is the most common cause of acute pancreatitis in pregnancy.2 Pancreatic ascites results from persistent leakage of pancreatic secretions in the peritoneum from pancreatic duct injury. The extent of pancreatic ascites varies, depending on the site and degree of ductal damage and infection.3 The complications of acute or chronic pancreatitis are pancreatic pseudocysts. Initial diagnosis is mostly done by imaging. Endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has become the standard test to help differentiate pseudocyst from other cystic lesions of the pancreas. With supportive treatment, most pseudocysts resolve spontaneously. Poor predictors for the potential of pseudocyst resolution or complications are the size of the pseudocyst and the length of time the cyst has been present, but larger cysts in general are more likely to be symptomatic or cause complications.4 We report a case of young female presenting with jaundice and ascites two days post-partum, who was eventually diagnosed as a case of pancreatic ascites with large pancreatic pseudocyst.

An Audit of Management of Chronic Pancreatitis with Pancreatic Ductal Disruption Resulting in Ascites and Pleural Effusion

Introduction: Pancreatic Ductal Disruption (PDD) may remain a localised collection to form pseudocyst or dissect into adjacent organs or rupture freely into the peritoneal cavity or pleural cavity resulting in massive or high-volume ascites or pleural effusions. The management of pseudocyst is well known among general and gastrosurgeons, but ascites and plural effusion remain difficult decisions. Depending on the availability of resources total parenteral nutrition, octreotide, pancreatic duct stenting are used with varying success. There are no guidelines as to which intervention is preferable in different clinical scenarios. Aim: To audit the clinical characters and management of patients with pancreatic ascites and pleural effusion. Materials and Methods: This study was done at the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi, Karnataka, India. Fifty two patients with pancreatic ascites or pancreatico pleural fistula in the background of chronic pancreatitis satisfying both inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified and studied from the prospectively maintained database of patients with chronic pancreatitis in the period from September 2010 to September 2020. The patients were classified as conservatively managed, endoscopic main pancreatic duct stenting or surgery. Statistical analysis was done using windows excel. The results were expressed as percentage, mean and Standard Deviation (SD). Results: Five patients with ascites and two patients with pleural effusion responded completely to conservative measures (13.4%). In one of them ascites recurred at two months and one had left pleural effusion recurrence at one month. Fifteen patients died while on conservative management (68.2% mortality). Among eight patients undergoing endoscopic pancreatic duct stenting, ascites/pleural effusion resolved in six (75% success rate) and remained asymptomatic during mean follow-up of 12 months. Two patients who were not improving after stenting were lost to follow-up. Twenty-two patients underwent surgery namely lateral pancreatojejunostomy with resolution of symptoms. Two patients undergoing surgery died in postoperative period due to sepsis and chest infection (9.1% mortality). At a mean follow-up of 14 months they remained symptom free. Conclusion: Conservative management alone has high mortality. Early aggressive management can aim to stop leak either by pancreatic duct stenting or surgical lateral pancreatojejunostomy will help reduce mortality and morbidity.