Can pancreatitis come and go for months?

Can pancreatitis come and go for months?

Acute pancreatitis occurs suddenly and lasts for a short period of time and usually resolves. Chronic pancreatitis does not resolve itself and results in a slow destruction of the pancreas. Either form can cause serious complications. In severe cases, bleeding, tissue damage, and infection may occur.

What is the early indicator of pancreatitis?

Acute pancreatitis signs and symptoms include: Upper abdominal pain. Abdominal pain that radiates to your back. Abdominal pain that feels worse after eating.

Is it hard to diagnose pancreatitis?

Although chronic pancreatitis diagnosis may be suspected following presentation with suggestive symptoms, clinical presentation is usually insufficient for a firm diagnosis. In fact, a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is difficult to establish, especially in the early stages of disease.

Can pancreatitis not show on CT scan?

Ultrasound and CT are insensitive in diagnosis of early chronic pancreatitis, as they often show no abnormalities. A recent study showed that parenchymal changes might precede ductal changes in chronic pancreatitis; thus depicting the importance of MRI compared to MRCP in early diagnosis of disease[42].

Can you have pancreatitis with normal imaging?

MRI is sensitive for detection of subtle changes of acute pancreatitis; particularly minor peripancreatic inflammatory changes; even in the setting of a morphologically normal pancreas on CT imaging; which may appear normal in up to 15%-30% of patients with clinical features of acute pancreatitis[23].

Can you have pancreatitis with normal CT scan?

In mild pancreatitis, the CT features range from a normal-appearing pancreas with no peripancreatic abnormalities to diffuse enlargement and heterogeneous attenuation of the gland with ill-definition of the border.

What does pancreatitis look like on imaging?

The morphologic changes of acute pancreatitis are similar on CT and MRI. The pancreas may be enlarged focally (usually the pancreatic head) or diffusely. Acute inflammatory changes appear as strands of low signal intensity in the surrounding peripancreatic fat.