“What brings on a pancreatitis attack?”
My 17 year old daughter has pancreatitis. I want to know what brings on a pancreatitis attack?
5 Answers
In pediatric patients, the most common reason that they develop pancreatitis is from either an infection or some type of medication. Check with your doctor before they prescribe anything to make sure that it will not cause any ongoing pancreas inflammation.
You must first find out what caused your daughter to have pancreatitis. That will help answer your question. Those factors which caused her first attack will likely cause a recurrence, so please discuss with the doctors who diagnosed her. Hope she stays well.
The two most common causes of acute pancreatitis in the U.S. by far are alcohol abuse and gallstones. Other causes include smoking, very high triglycerides (over 1,000), certain medications (lasix, lisinopril, azathioprine, estrogen, amongst many others), hereditary pancreatitis, and autoimmune pancreatitis. In a 17 year old female, I would suspect gallstones or birth control pills as a cause. I have also had many patients who were told they had pancreatitis, but in fact after further review, did not.
There are a number of potential etiologies of pancreatitis. These include infection, drugs, trauma, gall stones, alcohol, hypercalcemia, and hyperlipidemia.
There are many causes of pancreatitis, and it's unusual to see pancreatitis in a 17-year-old. By far the most common cause in adults is alcohol abuse. Next is gallstones, which could happen in a 17-year-old, especially if she is obese. Other causes include medications, hyperlipidemia, anatomic problems of the pancreas. Lastly, there are genetic causes, which we call hereditary pancreatitis. The circumstances and history of the case should reveal a cause for pancreatitis, or some work up may be required to discover the cause.
