The pancreas and biliary tract are so key to digestion that when they don’t work properly it affects the entire body. Pancreatic and biliary tract problems can lead to severe stomach pain, bloating, nausea and vomiting among other things.
Pancreatic diseases are a set of conditions affecting the pancreas. The most common benign pancreatic disease is pancreatitis, which can be either acute or chronic. Pancreatic disease can also be malignant in the case of pancreatic cancer. Though pancreatic conditions sometimes produce no symptoms at all, they most commonly manifest in pain in the upper-middle part of the abdomen that travels to the mid-back. Also the presence of diabetes with weight loss can point to pancreatic problems.
Biliary diseases affect the bile ducts and gallbladder. Biliary diseases include gallstones, cholecystitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, and biliary duct cancer. Biliary diseases often produce abdominal pain in the upper right side, dark urine, fever, itching, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, or pale-colored stools. There are a variety of procedures that physicians use to diagnose biliary and pancreatic diseases. Dr Papageorgiou will decide the appropriate one and proceed with the necessary care of the patient.