Differential Diagnosis
Acute pancreatitis
Chronic pancreatitis
Pancreatic carcinoma
Dangerous Situations
Pancreatic carcinoma is associated with a very short life span following diagnosis.
Commonly Encountered Situations
Acute pancreatitis is the most common of the disorders listed.
Suggested Additional Lab Testing
Acute pancreatitis
-
Tests to assess alcohol intake and triglyceride levels are useful.
-
Most common causes include alcohol abuse and gallstones.
-
Less common causes include hypertriglyceridemia, infections, and trauma to pancreas.
Chronic pancreatitis
Bentiromide test is a noninvasive test to assess pancreatic function in chronic pancreatitis, based on the hydrolysis by chymotrypsin of an orally administered synthetic peptide.
Pancreatic carcinoma
CA 19-9 may be useful to monitor response to therapy in patients with pancreatic cancer, but it is not specific to pancreatic cancer.
Copyright © 2017, 2013 Decision Support in Medicine, LLC. All rights reserved.
No sponsor or advertiser has participated in, approved or paid for the content provided by Decision Support in Medicine LLC. The Licensed Content is the property of and copyrighted by DSM.