Pancreatitis

Treatment of Children

Acute pancreatitis is rare in children; chronic pancreatitis is even rarer.

In adults, alcohol and gallstones often play a role in acute pancreatitis. Sometimes these two factors contribute to the development of acute pancreatitis in adolescent patients, but in children the disease usually results from blunt trauma to the abdomen. Other causes of acute pancreatitis in children include:

• Use of certain prescription drugs
• Presence of excess fat in the blood
• Cystic fibrosis
• Viruses such as mumps, chicken pox, mononucleosis,
  hepatitis A, rubella or influenza

For most children, acute pancreatitis resolves itself in days or weeks; however, sometimes complications can occur — death of pancreatic tissue or pseudocysts for example — which may result in surgery.

Chronic pancreatitis in children is most commonly linked to hereditary pancreatitis. It may also result from improper development of the pancreas during the mother's pregnancy.

Diagnosis and treatment of pancreatitis in children is usually the same as for adults.

Treatment Team

Minnesota
Children with pancreatitis are treated by specialists in Pediatric Gastroenterology. If they need hospital care, they are treated at Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital, a state-of-the-art, family-friendly children's hospital within Saint Marys Hospital.

Florida
Specialists in Gastroenterology can treat patients ages 16 years and older. They are treated by specialists in Gastroenterology. If patients need hospital care, they are treated at Nemours Children's Hospital in Jacksonville.

Appointments

Minnesota
The availability of appointments depends largely on the patient's condition. Patients with urgent conditions or diagnoses are given priority.

For appointments or more information, call:

• Gastroenterology appointment secretaries:
  (507) 284-2141
• Central appointment office: (507) 538-3270

Florida

For appointments or more information, call the Central Appointment Office at (904) 953-0853 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday, or complete an online appointment request form.