Types of pancreatitis

Pancreatitis is divided mainly by how long it lasts and how severe it is.

Acute pancreatitis

A sudden inflammation that usually settles within days to weeks.

• Mild acute pancreatitis: no organ failure. Most people recover in about a week.
• Moderately severe: temporary organ failure or local complications, lasting less than 48 hours
• Severe: organ failure lasting more than 48 hours, with a higher risk of death

By appearance on scan

• Interstitial oedematous: swollen pancreas, most common
• Necrotising: parts of the pancreas or nearby fat die, which carries more risk

Chronic pancreatitis

Long-lasting inflammation that causes scarring, pain and loss of enzyme and insulin function over years.

Special forms

• Gallstone pancreatitis
• Alcohol-related pancreatitis
• Hypertriglyceridaemia-induced pancreatitis
• Hereditary pancreatitis: runs in families
• Autoimmune pancreatitis: responds to steroid treatment
• Tropical calcific pancreatitis: seen in younger people in some tropical regions
• Post-ERCP pancreatitis

Ayurvedic view

Ayurveda does not list these types. Severe abdominal pain with digestive weakness is discussed under Pitta and Vata disturbance. This is an interpretive framework.

See a doctor if you have had one attack of pancreatitis. Finding the cause helps prevent another.

When to get help

See a doctor if upper belly pain keeps coming back, if you have gallstones, high triglycerides or a family history of pancreatitis, or if you pass greasy stools or lose weight. Go to hospital at once for sudden severe pain with vomiting.

Remember

The type and severity decide the care. Severe acute cases need hospital and sometimes intensive care.