Epidemiological overview of chronic pancreatitis in the northeast of Austria

Background Chronic pancreatitis is a heterogenous disease and isn´t easy to diagnose. There is no potential cure and treatment is a challenging issue. Malnutrition, exocrine and endocrine insufficiency and pain relief are the leading treatment targets. Pancreatic carcinoma should be detected in its early stages. From our collective in Northeast Austria, we tried to list different risc factors and markers for chronic pancretitis.

Methods In our outpatient clinic for pancreatic diseases in St. Pölten, we established a registry for pancreatitis in 2018. After informed consent we acquired basic data such as etiology, different risc factors, laboratory findings and interventions.

Results Between November 2018 and March 2020 we were able to collect data from 53 patients. 42 male patients and 11 female patients were registered. 17 patients suffered from exocrine insufficiency. 12 patients had a pancreatitis related diabetes mellitus. Mean HbA1C was at 6.6 %, the highest level was at 11.5 %. In most patients multiple risc factors occurred. A majority had a history of smoking. Only 12 patients didn´t smoke. 19 patients even had a history of >25py.

Tab. 1

alcohol consumption according M-ANNHEIM classification

None	moderate	increased	excessive	No valid data
17	11	9	6	10

Conclusion Many patients were already suffering from long term consequences of the disease, such as endocrine and exocrine insufficiency or malnutrition.In our collective chronic pancreatitis was more often diagnosed in male than in female. 44 patients have more than one risc factor. The most common risc factors were alcohol abuse and smoking. Our aim is to make aware that chronic pancreatitis is a complex disease and in most cases it could be diagnosed earlier. Wa want to give regular updates from our collective in northeast of Austria.

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
01. September 2021