Pancreatitis Pain and Preventing Diabetes

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas that can cause intense, persistent pain in the upper abdomen, and other symptoms, including jaundice. The pain of pancreatitis can be severe enough to require removal of the pancreas. Since the islet cells of the pancreas produce insulin for controlling blood sugar, removing the pancreas would normally cause diabetes. But a little known surgical procedure called autologous islet cell transplantation prevents diabetes when the pancreas is removed.

In autologous islet cell transplantation, after removing the pancreas, the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas are removed from the pancreas and injected into a vein in the patient’s liver where the cells continue to make insulin.

But pancreatitis causes destruction of islet cells, so if surgery is put off too long there won’t be any islet cells to transplant.