Medications

Medicines used to treat pancreatitis depend on whether the condition is sudden (acute) or ongoing (chronic) and whether it is mild or severe.

Acute pancreatitis

Medicines can relieve pain in acute pancreatitis until inflammation goes away.

If you have severe acute pancreatitis, you also may take medicines to reduce stomach acids. The risk of complications and death increases if pancreatic tissue is infected. Complications that may occur in or near the pancreas include tissue death, fluid buildup, blocked veins, and infection. Other complications of an acute infection may include shock, respiratory failure, and kidney failure.

Chronic pancreatitis

In addition to pain medicine, people who have chronic illness may take pancreatic enzymes and insulin because their damaged pancreas no longer produces enough of these.

Medication Choices

You may need one or more medicines to treat pancreatitis.

• Pain medicine. Mild pain is first treated with a medicine such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. If you have stronger pain, you may be given the narcotic meperidine (Demerol) or morphine. Health professionals also use other medicines and procedures to treat pain in chronic pancreatitis.
• Medicines to suppress pancreatic enzymes. In severe acute pancreatitis, medicines may be given to keep the pancreas from producing enzymes. The medicines include somatostatin, octreotide, and gabexate mesylate. These medicines, which are rarely used, may reduce complications.¹
• Medicines to suppress stomach acid. You may take these along with medicines to suppress pancreatic enzymes in severe acute and chronic pancreatitis. The medicines include H2-receptor blockers (such as Tagamet, Pepcid, or Zantac) and proton pump inhibitors (such as Prilosec or Prevacid). Studies have shown that they are not effective for most people with pancreatitis, but they may prevent other problems, such as bleeding in the digestive tract.¹
• Pancreatic enzyme supplements. In advanced chronic pancreatitis, the pancreas may stop producing the enzymes needed to digest fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Enzyme supplements at meals can help the body digest fats, allowing you to retain nutrients and gain weight.
• Insulin. Advanced chronic pancreatitis can lead to diabetes if the part of the pancreas that produces insulin becomes damaged.

What To Think About

Side effects of pancreatic enzymes that are given to treat chronic pancreatitis include abdominal discomfort and soreness of the mouth and the anus. People who are allergic to pork or who do not eat pork for other reasons should not take these enzymes, because they are made of pork protein. In young children, high doses of pancreatic enzymes could cause a bowel obstruction.