pancreatitis Essays - Pancreas Disorders, Pancreatitis,

Etiology of Pancreatitis Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas. It occurs when pancreatic cells are damaged or there is a blockage of pancreatic enzyme secretion. The digestive enzymes within the pancreas are activated within its own tissues instead of the duodenum (Marchiondo, 2010). It is very serious and can be deadly. It falls under two different classifications, acute or chronic. Acute pancreatitis is brought on suddenly and is characterized by edema and inflammation confined to the pancreas. Chronic pancreatitis is an inflammatory disorder characterized by a progressive destruction of the pancreas over an extended period of time (Smeltzer et al, 2010). Regardless of the type of pancreatitis, it is important to be aware of common causes. Some causes of pancreatitis are biliary tract disease, alcohol abuse, trauma and viral or bacterial disease. Biliary tract disease causes gallstones to get lodged in the common bile duct at the Sphincter of Oddi. Occasionally the gallstones can also block the flow of digestive enzymes from the pancreas since both the bile ducts and pancreas ducts drain from the same opening. This results in inflammation of the pancreas. It is known as gallstone pancreatitis. This is the single most common cause of acute pancreatitis, followed closely by alcohol. While alcohol is the second most common cause of acute pancreatitis, it is the leading cause of chronic pancreatitis. Alcohol consumption leads to the formation of protein plugs that block pancreatic outflow. In up to 70% of adult patients, chronic pancreatitis appears to be caused by alcoholism (Roberts et al, 2008). Damage from alcohol abuse may not appear for many years, and then a person may have a sudden attack of pancreatitis. It can also develop in a patient with weekend binging habits. A patient may suffer from pancreatitis after a large alcohol load has been consumed. Pancreatitis incidents are on the rise, and it is attributed to an increase in alcohol consumption (Roberts et al, 2008). Unlike trauma, there is no universally accepted explanation as to why certain alcoholics are predisposed to developing pancreatitis. Blunt abdominal trauma is considered to be the cause of one fifth of all cases of traumatic pancreatitis (Kingsnorth It may result in contusion, parenchymal fracture or ductal disruption. Blunt injury may crush the gland across the spine. Pancreatic injury occurs more often in penetrating injuries than in blunt abdominal trauma. As rare as trauma induced pancreatitis is, infections cause even fewer incidents. Various infections and diseases can cause pancreatitis. Viral causes include mumps, Epstein-Barr, coxsackievirus, echovirus, varicella-zoster, and measles. Bacterial causes include Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infectious agents that are increasingly associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection can also cause pancreatitis (Kingsnorth While biliary tract disease, alcoholism, trauma and infection can cause pancreatitis; they are by no means the only causes, nor are they certain to induce pancreatitis. Many factors, some understood and some not, play into it. As far as the outcome of pancreatitis, it would seem that age is not a factor. Studies have shown that no matter the etiologies or severity of pancreatitis in younger verses. older patients the clinical outcome is no different (Kim It is good to know that age will not negatively impact something as serious as pancreatitis. References Kim, J., & Hwang, J. (2012). The clinical outcome of elderly patients with acute pancreatitis is not different in spite of the different etiologies and severity. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 54(1), 256-260. Kingsnorth, A., & O'Reilly, D. (2006). Acute pancreatitis. British Medical Journal, 332(7549), 1072-1076. Marchiondo, K. (2010). Acute pancreatitis. Medsurg Nursing, 19(1), 54-55. Roberts, S., Williams, J., Meddings , D., & Goldacre, M. (2008). Incidence and case fatality for acute pancreatitis in England. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 28, 931-941. Smeltzer, S., Bare, B., Hinkle, J., & Cheever, K. (2010). Textbook of medical-surgical nursing. (12 ed., Vol. 2, pp. 1181-1189). New York, NY: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins