pancreatitis and enterogastric bile reflux

[budmel]

i was diagnosed with pancreatitis over a year ago.  my enzyme levels were diagnosed as 4 times normal which as i understand it is not full blown pancreatitis..needless to say, the pain has never gone away.   for a year now i have gone through a multitude of tests from different doctors.  my latest tests have confirmed the following:  i have a minor dliation of my pancreatic duct and i also have enterogastric bile reflux.  im now being directed to take a gastric emptying study which i already have had done a year ago and those results were normal..my question is...is here a link between pancreatitis and bile reflux?  and if so, would it not be indicative of an obstruction (due to the minor dilation) of my pancreatic duct....is there any remedies or speculation around these test results?

[CalGal]

There is a lot of information about autoimmune pancreatitis on various medical sites such as Medscape.com. Try checking there.

[Garem]

Where do I find about auto immune pancreatitis..what are the tests

[budmel]

yes...i agree....this is what i was thinking as well and i've actually read this link before...the hida scan i got 2 weeks ago also asked for a sod score....but it seems like the doctor has gone in a different direction with the enterogastric bile reflux....unless this is a result of sod dysfunction...which i cant be sure.   im currently a patient at jhops....unless there is a relationship between bile reflux and sod dysfunction...the sod dysfunction would explain the pancreatitis.  i guess it might explain the bile reflux as well..but i havent read any documentation that indicates this theory.   do you know of any?

[CalGal]

It's possible the enlargement of the duct may be due to SOD - sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Check this link: http://www.hopkins-gi.org/GDL_Disease.aspx?SS=&CurrentUDV=31&GDL_DC_ID=320F4EDD-0021-4952-83D7-8B0C67B47BFF&GDL_Disease_ID=7AB086B0-AB01-446E-B011-2E67CAFEF96D

[budmel]

Yes, I had my gall bladder removed in January.   The physician who administered my EUS test last October (2009) suggested that I consider having it removed. THere was evidence of crystals in my bile.  So against my primary gastroenterologists wishes I pushed to have the gall bladder removed.   The pain that I had prior to the gall bladder removal is the same as post removal. In addition, the results of the EUS test suggested that I had some abnormalities in my pancreas, but not enough to be considered for chronic pancreatitis.   I am on my 4th gastroenterologist and all of them agree that i do not have chronic pancreatitis.  I have been tested for automimmune pancreatitis and I do not have it....sigh

[CalGal]

Do you still have your gallbladder? There's a link between a 'dicey' gallbladder and reflux and there's also a link to having had a gallbladder removed and having reflux subsequent to that.

Have you been tested for autoimmune pancreatitis?