Another Success in Treating Chronic Pancreatitis 2001.4.8

Another Success in Treating Chronic Pancreatitis 2001.4.8

Director Li from the United Front Work Department of the Provincial Party Committee suffered from stomach pain for three years, with no effect from any medication. He had previously sought treatment at Beijing’s 301 Hospital, but saw no significant improvement. The patient experienced fullness and pain in both flanks, epigastric discomfort radiating to the lower back, a red tongue with thick yellow coating, and severe constipation. Gastroscopy confirmed atrophic gastritis with positive Helicobacter pylori. I thought that since he had already tried various medications for stomach ailments over the past three years, visiting numerous hospitals large and small, this patient actually had pancreatitis, with stomach problems existing concurrently but not being the primary issue. I prescribed a bile-pancreas combination formula, and after more than 20 doses, the flank and epigastric pain significantly improved, but the back pain worsened. I then added levofloxacin glucose injection 0.2 g and metronidazole 250 mL intravenously, and after three days, the back pain eased and the flank pain lessened. However, the stomach bloating intensified, indicating that the pancreatitis was improving, but since the three Western medicines all irritated the stomach, the epigastric bloating worsened. I encouraged the patient to continue taking the medication, adding gentian, aloe vera, and angelica to the bile-pancreas formula, inspired by the idea of angelica-aloe vera pills. Although gentian and aloe vera both have stomach-irritating effects, literature reports show they can relieve left flank pain, which in this case is due to pancreatitis. The CT scan did not reveal any pancreatic lesions, suggesting that chronic pancreatic inflammation may not show up on CT images. In my treatment of chronic pancreatitis patients, dozens of CT scans have shown no pancreatic lesions.