Conditions We Treat
We treat the full range of pancreas conditions at Nationwide Children’s, from the most basic pancreatitis to the most complex conditions requiring pancreatic operations.
- Acute, acute recurrent and chronic pancreatitis: Swelling of the pancreas can be a one-time occurrence (acute), happen more than once (acute recurrent), or be an ongoing issue that must be managed long-term (chronic).
- Autoimmune pancreatitis: Chronic inflammation is caused by the body’s immune system attacking the pancreas. The two subtypes have overlapping signs and symptoms but respond to different treatments, making it critical to diagnose correctly.
- Type 1 AIP: Affecting multiple organs, Type 1 attacks the pancreas, bile ducts in the liver, salivary glands, kidneys and lymph nodes.
- Type 2 AIP: While Type 2 seemingly affects only the pancreas, 1 in 3 patients also reports inflammatory bowel disease.
Speak With Our Team
Questions? Concerns? Contact the Pancreas and Liver Care Center team.- Congenital abnormalities, including:
- Annular pancreas: Annular pancreas is a rare congenital abnormality that occurs when a ring of pancreatic tissue wraps around the first part of the small intestine, creating symptoms such as vomiting and abdominal swelling. About 1 in 4 patients with annular pancreas also has Down syndrome.
- Pancreas divisum: Pancreas divisum starts in the womb in about 1 in 10 pregnancies, when the two sides of the pancreas fail to fuse correctly prior to birth. Most people with pancreas divisum go through life without any symptoms, but a small percentage have symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and acute or chronic pancreatitis.
- Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: Also known as EPI, this condition causes a shortage of amylase, protease and lipase. These exocrine pancreatic enzymes help with the digestion of food. Not having enough enzymes makes it impossible to digest food adequately, causing malnutrition. Our multidisciplinary approach allows us to address EPI when it is associated with complex genetic conditions such as Johanson-Blizzard syndrome (JBS), Pearson marrow-pancreas syndrome (PMPS) or Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS).
- Pancreatic cysts and pseudocysts: Both pancreatic cysts and pseudocysts are contained collections of fluid in the pancreas. While a cyst is a sac containing fluid and lined by cells, a pseudocyst is a collection of fluid that does not have a lining of cells separating it from the pancreas and is usually the result of an episode of acute pancreatitis.
- Pancreatic trauma: A pancreatic trauma can happen after any hard blow to the abdomen, including a car accident, bike wreck, hard fall or penetration to the abdomen (gunshot, knife wound, etc.). Symptoms are typically nausea, vomiting and belly pain.
- Pancreatic tumors: Tumors are an abnormal growth of cells within the body and can be either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
- Benign tumors typically do not spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body and are not life-threatening. They may be removed with surgery and usually do not come back.
- About 95% of malignant pancreas tumors form in the exocrine cells. Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose as symptoms do not present when the cancer is most curable. Symptoms include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), light-colored stools, dark urine, pain in the upper/middle abdomen or back, loss of appetite and lethargy.