25-year-old boy's life hangs on his pancreas after overeating during Spring Festival holiday

Thinking he had gastroenteritis from eating too much, 25-year-old Xiao Shuai (pseudonym) from Quanzhou walked into the hospital with the help of his family. He never expected that he would never come back... It turned out that Xiao Shuai did not have gastroenteritis, but acute pancreatitis, and his condition was critical. During the course of the disease, his breathing and heartbeat stopped! Fortunately, the doctors tried their best and finally pulled him back from the brink of death.

During the Spring Festival, the number of patients with acute pancreatitis increases. Experts from the Department of Gastroenterology at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University teach you how to prevent this "Spring Festival disease."

The young man who treated his abdominal pain as gastritis almost died

Recently, when Xiao Shuai (pseudonym), who weighed nearly 200 pounds and looked painful, was admitted to the gastroenterology ward of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University as an emergency doctor, Chief Physician Cai Wenpin discovered something was wrong - the young man was breathing heavily and was restless!

Two days before seeing the doctor, Xiao Shuai had upper abdominal pain because he had been eating a lot of fried foods, carbonated drinks, chocolate desserts, etc. He thought he had gastroenteritis, so he bought some gastrointestinal medicine for two days. However, the abdominal pain did not ease, but became more and more severe, and he also had back pain, shortness of breath, etc. At this time, Xiao Shuai realized that his illness might not be that simple.

Original drawing: A YONG

During the rescue process, Xiao Shuai's breathing and heartbeat stopped. In the critical moment, the doctors quickly took a series of emergency rescue measures and finally rescued him from the hands of "death"!

During the diagnosis and treatment, the doctor took blood samples from Xiao Shuai and found that the blood was white and turbid like milk. The test results showed that his triglyceride level was as high as 35mmol (normal value ≤1.8mmol). In addition, other tests also showed that Xiao Shuai had high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high uric acid.

The blood drawn from Xiaoshuai was white and turbid like milk.

"Based on the clinical symptoms and test results, Xiao Shuai was diagnosed with severe hyperlipidemia-induced acute pancreatitis combined with acute respiratory distress syndrome." Dr. Cai introduced that due to the severity of his condition and rapid progression, Xiao Shuai continued to receive treatment for more than two weeks after the successful rescue, and his condition improved significantly.

Acute pancreatitis is more common during the Spring Festival and the incidence rate is getting younger

It is understood that acute pancreatitis is an acute injury caused by multiple causes that leads to edema, bleeding and even necrosis of pancreatic tissue, and clinically presents symptoms such as acute upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal distension. In mild cases, pancreatic edema is the main symptom, while in severe cases, pancreatic bleeding and necrosis are often secondary to infection, peritonitis, shock and multiple organ failure.

Cause 1: Bad living habits

"In recent years, the number of outpatients in the gastroenterology department has increased significantly during holidays, and some patients have been diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. This year's Spring Festival is no exception, and patients with acute pancreatitis are still frequent, including critically ill patients like Xiaoshuai!" Cai Wenpin, chief physician of the gastroenterology department of Fujian Medical University Second Hospital, analyzed that acute pancreatitis is mostly caused by bad living habits, overeating, excessive drinking, especially those who like to eat greasy food are more likely to be infected. There are many opportunities for gatherings and meals during the Spring Festival. Some people do not pay attention to controlling their diet, overeating every day, eating too much greasy food, drinking too much, and lack of exercise. As a result, blood lipids are easily increased, thus inducing acute pancreatitis.

Cause 2: Not paying attention to health check-ups

"It is worth noting that with the improvement of living standards, there is a clear increasing trend in the number of patients with hyperlipidemic acute pancreatitis, and most of them are young patients. Among the patients we see, there are children in their twenties or even teens!" Dr. Cai pointed out that in addition to "not being able to control their mouths and move their legs", some young people do not pay attention to health examinations in their daily lives, especially obese people who may already have metabolic problems such as high blood sugar, high uric acid, and high blood lipids but have not discovered them in time until the disease is induced and relevant examinations are conducted to discover the problems.

Pancreatitis is different from gastroenteritis. If these symptoms occur, you should seek medical attention in time. During the consultation, Dr. Cai found a problem that cannot be ignored - many patients mistake pancreatitis for gastroenteritis and take medicine on their own, thus delaying the golden treatment period, causing the disease to worsen, and even endangering their lives.

How to tell

"Pancreatitis is usually caused by excessive drinking and overeating, and the first symptom is often acute upper abdominal pain. Gastroenteritis can also cause abdominal pain, but the degree of the two is different. In comparison, the abdominal pain of pancreatitis is more severe and lasts longer. Some people also experience symptoms such as low back pain, abdominal distension, oliguria, and shortness of breath." Dr. Cai emphasized that acute pancreatitis often develops rapidly and is a serious condition. It may progress in a short period of time and cause multiple organ dysfunction and failure. Therefore, its golden window of treatment is within 24 hours of onset (even within 6 hours of onset is better). Early detection and early treatment will lead to better prognosis. "If you have severe upper abdominal pain after a meal, and the symptoms persist or the pain radiates to the shoulders and lower back, you should seek medical attention in time."

How to prevent it

So, how to prevent acute pancreatitis? Dr. Cai gave us several suggestions:

Adjust eating habits and lifestyle in time

It is advisable to eat a light diet and avoid excessive consumption of greasy and irritating foods; pay attention to balanced nutrition and eat more vegetables, fruits and potatoes; avoid overeating and excessive drinking; insist on exercising and control your weight.

Regular medical check-ups

Once the problem is discovered, timely treatment should be provided. Patients with hyperlipidemia pancreatitis should also take lipid-lowering drugs regularly as prescribed by their doctor and monitor their blood lipid levels regularly.