We provide treatment for following pancreatic conditions.
Pancreatic tumours
Pancreas cancer is an aggressive cancer which if not treated appropriately is associated with lethal outcome. Tumours or cancer in pancreas can arise in its head, neck, body or tail. Tumours in or around head most commonly present with painless jaundice. Whereas tumours in other parts of pancreas can present with abdominal pain, weight loss, lack of appetite or incidental finding on an abdominal scan. Diagnosis usually requires CT scan, ERCP and Endoscopic ultrasound and cytology. Tumours in the head region of pancreas are treated with Whipple procedure and other tumours may be dealt with distal pancreatectomy (removal of part of pancreas). It may sometimes be necessary to remove spleen if tumour is too close to it along with distal pancreatectomy. It is recommended that pancreatic surgery should only be carried out by centres which are performing large numbers to reduce the complication rate and achieve good results.
Acute pancreatitis
The most common cause for acute pancreatitis is gallbladder stones. Patients with acute pancreatitis present with severe abdominal pain. Blood amylase or lipase tests are used to make a diagnosis. In many patients an acute attack would settle down with supportive measures in hospital. It is advisable to the patients to undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy when an acute attack has settled to prevent any future pancreatitis. Occasionally acute pancreatitis can be associated with severe complications such as necrosis and organ failure which may require invasive procedures to help the patient to fight the condition. Minimally invasive pancreatic surgery has significantly improved the outcome of patients with acute pancreatic necrosis.
Chronic pancreatitis
Chronic pancreatitis is a condition which is associated with long standing damage to pancreas. It can cause severe pain, weight loss, indigestion, diarrhoea and diabetes mellitus. Some patients benefit from pancreatic surgery to help their symptoms especially when other measures have failed.