Does acute pancreatitis have the potential for extreme and rapid deterioration?

In conclusion, acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory process that has the potential for Extreme and rapid deterioration when not treated early enough. It is increasing in incidence in adults over 18, requiring medical and nursing staff to act fast and have increased knowledge and understanding of  this disease process. Although there is no specific treatment, supportive therapies are used to manage the side effects and complications of the disease. Pain being the most common and debilitating symptom of pancreatitis and often extremely severe, requiring morphine, pethidine, epidural or patient-controlled analgesia, depending on each individual patient. Controlling the patients pain should be of high priority to  prevent further complications and give relief to the patient.  Due to the high catabolic nature of pancreatitis, nutrition management is important for optimum recovery. Patients should give the gut rest and therefore be fed via a nasogastric feeding tube. This is the safest and cheapest method accordingly to research, but not all patients are suitable for a nasogastric tube and for those who cannot tolerate a nasogastric feeding tube or not well enough to absorb the feed, total parental nutrition is recommended. Fluid management is also extremely important in the treatment of pancreatitis to prevent organ dysfunction and maintain circulation. Crystalloid fluid resuscitation within the first 72 hours is recommended in order to adequately maintain circulation to perfuse essential tissues and organs. There is very limited research on the treatment of acute pancreatitis, and there is a need for further high quality randomized controlled trials to determine the best approach for acute pancreatitis management.