On June 19, information from the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the hospital has just received a male patient who has been addicted to alcohol for a long time and was hospitalized in a state of acute pancreatitis, threatening his life.
According to information from the family, the patient still maintains the habit of drinking about 500ml of alcohol per day, although he has been hospitalized many times for acute pancreatitis but has not changed this habit. This hospitalization, the patient had severe abdominal pain in the upper umbilical cord, spreading to the back, accompanied by nausea and bloating - typical signs of severe pancreatitis.
Test results showed a spike in pancreatic enzymes of over 1,000 units more than 10 times the normal level. In particular, the patient's triglyceride index (blood fat) was up to 16 mmol/L, many times higher than the safe level.
MSc. Dr. Nguyen Kim Anh, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said: "A abdominal CT scan detected a severe inflammation of the pancreas, with necrosis and an outbreak around the pancreas. This is the most severe level of acute pancreatitis, if not treated promptly, it will lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death."
The patient was treated immediately with a complete fasting method, fluids, insulin, pancreatitis reliever and pain reliever. After two days of treatment, the patient was conscious, had no abdominal pain and did not need surgery. However, the risk of recurrence is still very high if the cause of "droppping alcohol and controlling blood lipids" is not eliminated.
According to Dr. Kim Anh, acute pancreatitis is a dangerous disease that can progress very quickly and threaten life. The main cause is prolonged alcohol consumption, metabolic disorders, especially increased triglycerides, or gallstones. "Many patients have been treated for pancreatitis but continue to drink alcohol and do not control blood lipids, leading to chronic pancreatic damage and leaving long-term consequences such as diabetes, digestive disorders, and malnutrition," Dr. Kim Anh warned.
Acute pancreatitis is not only a result of alcohol but also a sign that the digestive and metabolic system is seriously overloaded. People with symptoms of epigastric pain, spreading to the back, accompanied by nausea and bloating, especially those with a history of drinking alcohol or dyslipidemia, need to be hospitalized immediately.
"In pancreatitis emergency care, time is a vital factor. The sooner the intervention is done, the higher the chance of survival; just a few hours of delay can lead to irreversible consequences," Dr. Kim Anh emphasized.
