Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to make available on the NHS less invasive treatment for inflamed pancreas conditions.

Jane Ellison

Pancreatitis (an inflammation of the pancreas) may either be acute or chronic. Chronic pancreatitis is usually the result of repeated acute episodes of the condition. If a person has suspected acute pancreatitis, urgent admission to secondary care is required. Initial treatment may include pain relief, intravenous fluids and antibiotics for treatment of associated cholangitis (an infection of the biliary tract) or other acute infections.

The management of chronic pancreatitis is usually carried out in secondary care, although the primary care healthcare professional may have a role in the provision of adequate pain relief, screening for diabetes (a possible complication), providing general lifestyle advice and support and referring or admitting patients to secondary care if they develop complication.

Surgical intervention may be required in particularly severe cases of the condition. This may involve the removal of: inflamed sections of the pancreas; pancreatic tissue that has died as a result of infection; gallstones or the entire gallbladder; pseudocysts (sacs of fluid) which can develop on the pancreas; and, in particularly severe cases, the entire pancreas. Whilst some of these interventions may be minimally invasive, others will require more extensive surgical treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published Clinical Knowledge Summaries on both acute and chronic pancreatitis. They are available at the following links:

cks.nice.org.uk/pancreatitis-chronic#!scenario

cks.nice.org.uk/pancreatitis-acute