Hi,
How are you? I am so sorry to hear about your Dad's diagnosis. What is the cause of his pancreatitis?
Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the
pancreas. Pancreas is an important organ which not only produces
insulin, but also produces a lot of digestive enzymes which helps break up our food into its elements for absorption. Normally the Pancreatic enzymes get activated only after they are pored into the intestine. In Pancreatitis, due to swelling of the pancreas, the ducts draining the enzymes become blocked. As a result, the enzymes get "backed up" and as a result get activated in the pancreas itself. This is very dangerous because the enzymes then start "digesting" the pancreas itself, a term known as "auto / self digestion). This will lead to "dissolving" or "liquifaction" of the pancreas and hence will appear as a "fluid collection" on imaging scans. Added to this, because of inflamation, the body will secrete a lot of fluid in and around the pancreas which further add to the size of the fluid collection. Once the pancreatitis resolves, the fluid collection spontanously gets absorbed by the body. But if it does not gets absorbed within six weeks, then it is called a "pseudo cyst" of the pancreas which will need some kind of intervention to treat it. Based on its size (>6cm) and location, most often, this can be treated by endoscopic techniques. But if there is any evidence of infection or endoscopic
drainage is not feasible, then surgery will have to be performed to treat this.
Hope this helps and hope your Dad feels better soon. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further details esp regarding centers specialising in pseudocyst treatment - rxsuresh@gmail.com